Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu
by Ro Sohryu
Summary: The Angels. Humanity's greatest threat. With the other NERV branches currently developing and testing other Apocrypha, the Human Instrumentality Project can proceed without interruption. However, more pawns may be needed to ensure the correct course, as depicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ro Sohryu is one of those pawns.
1. Chapter 1

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 01:**

**Part 1: Redheaded sister**

The room was sheer blackness. It was black as black could be and no other colour. But the darkness of the room had to have a contrast, and so a large circular light on the floor shone upward.  
Slowly, one by one. Large, black monoliths appeared. Each with its own red insignia that glowed brightly.  
The council of SEELE had met before to discuss issues. Today would not be the last one.

"The Angels." The first monolith, marked SEELE 01, spoke with a loud booming voice.

In the centre of the room. Hovering above the white circular light. Holograms appeared of the footage recorded by NERV of the Angels that had so far attacked. They were shown with their individual ranks as NERV classified them by. The Third Angel, recently destroyed by Mari in the Provisional Evangelion Unit-05. The Fourth Angel that Shinji Ikari had first encountered in his first foray with Unit-01 followed by his fight with the Fifth Angel. The Sixth Angel, destroyed by the Positron Sniper Rifle. Finally the Seventh Angel, destroyed by the newly arrived Unit-02.

"Humanity's greatest threat." Boomed SEELE 02.

"With the Japanese NERV branch taking the brunt of the attacks." Noted the third.

SEELE 04 spoke next, the display showing various NERV bases around the world. "Yes, the other branches are currently developing and testing other Apocrypha, the Human Instrumentality Project can proceed without interruption."

"However, more pawns may be needed to ensure the correct course, as depicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls." SEELE 05 pointed out.

In the middle of the black monoliths a hologram of a brown-haired boy appeared, his iris' the colour of blood red. The hologram rotated slowly, stats for the boy appeared slowly next to his head.

**Name: Ro Sohryu****  
Age: 14  
NERV Branch: Euro  
Occupation: Evangelion Pilot  
Rank: Sergeant  
Current location: Germany  
Unit: 06**

"Are you sure this boy can handle instruction?" Spoke the sixth monolith, a question of doubt in his voice.

SEELE 01 spoke in defence. "He'll receive instruction. There are other more notable pawns we can use as cat's paws to place him in the right direction."

SEELE 06 was not convinced. "He does not always answer to authority however."

"Nevertheless, he brings about the correct set of results required of him, regardless of the method." SEELE 01 stated.

"Then it is decided. Unit-06 will be transferred to Japan." SEELE 07 finally spoke. Making a decisive stance.

"The Vatican treaty?" SEELE 03 questioned.

"Zodiac will provide an excellent obstacle to create the loopholes needed for Unit-06 to be delivered." Spoke the final monolith.

With that sentence done and the council meeting finished. The circular light went out, followed soon by the red insignias on the monoliths.  
The council of SEELE had been convened.

* * *

The large horn of an aircraft carrier blared out as the large vessel sailed through the large lake, approaching the red sea. The sound of seagulls dominant as they flew and glided through the air above the large white tarp that could be seen on the flight deck as it slowly sailed out. The tarp covered nearly all of the flight deck and had a large red symbol that read as:

** IPEA**

**I**nternational

**P**roject

**E**va

**A**gency

The view of the red river could be seen high in the sky from one of the many tall office buildings that lined the river bank. The light that poured into the office was staggering compared to the rest of the room, which was kept in the dark. A female figure stood at the large window, clad in a dark business suit with red hair flowing to her shoulders, her hands locked together behind her, looking down at the aircraft carrier as it slowly moved through the red water. On the desk close by to her was a floating holographic display, the most prominent window showing an audio phone call from Kaji Ryoji. The visual wave of Kaji's voice moved as he spoke.

"I take it you've heard about the little incident over at Bethany Base."

The woman gave a small smile. "Of course, Mari was direct and blunt as she always has been. How were her injuries?"

"Minor mostly, nothing more than a scratch or two. It'll take time to get a new Unit-05 operational however."

"That Unit won't be NERV's concern anymore. I've received instructions that Unit-06 has been approved for immediate deployment to Japan." The woman spoke with a slightly stern tone.

"Felia, you cannot be serious about this. Zodiac would never allow that specific Unit to enter Japanese waters, let alone have it reach the mainland." Spoke Kaji, finally speaking the name of the woman in the office.

Felia turned to face the phone call, putting her hands on the desk, not taking a seat. "That's where your wrong Ryoji, he will break through. My brother always does."

"I hope your right about this. That Unit has been a political hot potato for Euro hasn't it?"

Felia stared at the audio wave as it moved. "It'll function as needed. I gave the all clear to my brother personally. Keep an eye on him Ryoji, he's fond of violence."

"I'll be sure to be on the lookout."

On the other end of the line, Kaji hung the phone up shortly thereafter, he leaned back into his seat, looking out of the train car as it pulled into the Geofront again, washing the inside of the train with a thick orange haze.

"And so another Sohryu joins the war."

* * *

The loud clack of the metal parts sounded as the two-seater chairlift was carried along the track, Misato was sat on the right side, Ritsuko on the left. The blonde women flipped through her papers as Misato cradled a can of coffee in her hands.

"So I've heard that we're going to be getting a new Unit along with the new spare parts we requested."

Misato was surprised by Ritsuko's words, she turned to look at her. "Already? But we just got Unit-02 in. What are the UN playing at? They are never this nice."

Ritsuko kept her gaze on her papers, looking through technical specs of something. "Actually it was IPEA's call for it. The Unit in question has a few issues on technical ownership of various parts the model uses. So they are tossing it to us for safe keeping. Courtesy of NERV Euro in Germany."

"Same station as where Asuka was." Misato noted.

The tunnel that the chairlift had been travelling down finally ended, the workmen at the end of the tunnel were busy still constructing it as the red hue of Unit-02 came into view. A small crew could be seen attending to the left shoulder, performing minor repairs to it. A couple of two-man crews could also been seen giving the Unit a wax and polish on its armour. Keeping the shine under the bright lights.

"And related. The pilot is her brother."

This surprised Misato more, she leaned in to see what Ritsuko was looking at. "Ro? I thought he had been sent away for an advanced training scheme of sorts."

"He was. He got back to Euro just in time to see Asuka sail off."

Misato leaned back into her seat. "Damn. Must've been hard for him. Getting back to see your sister sail off like that."

"He was our initial choice instead of Asuka, but her and her Unit was available and it was a matter of convenience for us to take her in."

Misato took a sip of her coffee. "I don't think it's fair on Asuka to suddenly put her Unit into stasis so soon after arriving, she's only just beginning to settle down."

"I second that. With the company politics fighting over ownership of the new Unit. Its best we put Ro's Eva into stasis until its needed." Ritsuko said in agreement.

"And the new spare parts?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko flipped a couple of pages to the section concerning the shipment. "Flying in over the next few days. We can tune up Unit-01 and finally start the prep for upgrading Unit-00 into more than just a prototype."

"So how much did it cost us to sweeten the deal this time?" Misato asked.

"Nothing actually. The parts were given to us by Felia Sohryu."

This made Misato blink. "Felia? There's a name I haven't heard in a while. Wonder how she is?"

"She's recently taken charge of IPEA and NERV operations in Germany." Ritsuko said, handing a newspaper to Misato. It was a German newspaper dated a couple of days ago.

Misato took the newspaper into her hand, looking at the picture of Felia on the front page, all dressed in her business suit. "Wow, she's really moved up in the world."

* * *

The center of NERV had the usual huddle and bustle, except for the three NERV technicians, who were all on their phones, busy with a pressing matter. The Commander and Vice-Commander were not in today. Things had been relatively slow since the last Angel attack.  
The annoyance on Makoto's face was eventually broken by Misato and Ritsuko coming up behind him.

"Makoto, how's the transfer of Unit-06 going?" Misato asked.

Makoto moved the phone to one side, covering the mouth piece as he turned to speak with Misato.

"There's a problem with the transfer order Colonel, apparently the German naval fleet is being blockaded by a group called Zodiac." He replied.

"Zodiac? The anti-bioterrorism organisation? What's their hand in this?" She asked.

"Apparently they are citing that the fleet is carrying a bio-weapon on board."

Misato crossed her arms, an annoyed expression took over her face. "And if they get their hands on the Eva we won't be able to touch it. Dammit, this is daylight robbery.  
Makoto, tell Zodiac that the fleet and its contents are NERV property and under our jurisdiction."

"Already tried that ma'am, but they say the fleet is in International waters."

Misato gave a silent curse, looking up at the screen showing a top down view of the situation. Shigeru turned sharply in his chair.

"Colonel , the MAGI are detecting a connection with Unit-06! Its online!"

"What? How is that possible?" Misato exclaimed.

"Zodiac have just opened fire on the aircraft carrier carrying Unit-06!" Makoto yelled.

* * *

White hot shells thumped from the barrels and flew through the air by the dozen, aiming for the central aircraft carrier that had the massive white tarp on its flight deck. The other naval vessels slowly turned around, heading back, the rear side of the aircraft carrier had a flurry of activity as men were busy working away on evacuating the vessel. As the shells closed in, they stopped short in mid-air, warhead's caved in as they hit something in the air. The familiar shape of an AT-Field appeared around the front of the vessel. Protecting it from incoming fire. The shells soon exploded on impact, thick smoke bellowed around the explosions.

Slowly the white tarp moved, rising up, a large hand emerged from the side of the white tarp, reaching to the middle and ripping a hole in the center.

As the shape rose, the tarp conformed to its shape, obviously humanoid in statue. The hole gave it sight over the Zodiac ships as the smoke cleared. The white tarp acting as a cloak for the figure.  
The cloaked figure took a couple of steps, the aircraft carrier leaning forward from the extra weight. It hunched over before launching up high into the air and then down onto one of the larger Zodiac ships.  
The ship took the weight of the drop, the feet crunching through the hot barrels on the deck, the ship rocked heavily at the subsequent launch as the figure jumped again to another ship. Rocking boats and nearly capsizing them as the figure launched itself from ship to ship on a path towards the shore. The remaining vessels wasted no time in firing more white hot shells, which seared through the cloak. Tearing charred holes into it as the figure flew past.  
The figure landed on medium sized vessel that had been anchored close to the shore, although it was still some distance. The figured turned back for a second, looking at the vessels.

All of the barrels were now aiming straight for the figure.

The figure leaped from the vessel, capsizing it, before diving into the red water, shells tore through the vessel as if it was wet tissue and soon the vessel exploded into a massive fireball as the shells impacted and the remaining wreckage began to sink into the red water. As the smoke cleared, the white tarp could be seen floating on the red water. The ships adjusted their fire to the tarp. Tearing it to pieces and sending red water flying.

A few seconds past as the spotters checked to see if they had hit their target.  
Closer to the shore, the figure soon emerged and ran towards the shore, it's appearance not unlike a samurai in full armour. The armour glistened in the sun.  
As it ran, the massive shoulder and leg armour pieces, coupled with the helmet and sheathed katana started to take a couple of glancing shots, scraping the perfect shine of the material as it headed for the wrecked buildings nearby, passing by a massive white outline of a humanoid figure on the red water.  
The samurai figure kept running despite the red water putting up resistance, slowing it down. On the shoulders was a glowing neon sign saying:

**UNIT****  
06**

And that was all that was seen as Unit-06 began to dart between the buildings, hidden mostly from view, avoiding the incoming shells coming from overhead, which were soon mixed with shells that exploded overhead, which were meant to suppress a target from moving rather than actually hit anything.  
The shells soon kicked up a large dust cloud as one of the buildings was hit in the mid-section, one of the levels exploded into millions of pieces, the supports crumbling and a causing both halves of the building to fall into the water.

Out of the smoke tumbled Unit-06, heading straight for a large mountainous ridge that served to protect Tokyo-3 from the red sea water.  
As Unit-06 closed in on the ridge, several dark shapes emerged from the ridge, standing up and pointing objects that shined in the sunlight, weapons that were pointed towards Unit-06, which skidded to a halt for a second upon seeing them and changed direction 90 degrees to the right, diving into cover as more shells from behind and bullets from in front flew towards where Unit-06 had skidded to a halt a couple of seconds earlier.  
As the dust settled from the exploded shells, a couple of the shapes jumped down to where the Unit once was, they were half the size of Unit-06, obviously metallic with a visible cockpit, almost like a helicopter cockpit without the rotors and having metallic arms and legs attached to the sides and underside, giving chase to the more organic Unit.

Unit-06 kept running, even though it appeared that there was a dead end up ahead. The building that was blocking its path was taking up most of the space, but it was slanted at one angle, making just enough room for the Unit to squeeze past if absolutely required. The Eva Unit quickly unsheathed its katana, the blade shining from the daylight pouring down on it and quickly and effortlessly sliced through the building at an angle, making the upper section lean towards the metallic pursuers, darkening their skies as the building toppled towards them.  
As it fell with a mighty crash, a large plume of smoke was sent up, blocking the sight line of the other metallic mechs, the Eva Unit put one foot onto the remaining lower section, quickly stepping up onto another slanted building and then onto another, clambering for the ridge and jumped clear of the ridge, the last building toppling over as the momentum of the Eva jumping pushed it back.

The Unit flew through the air, legs brought forward, head down, watching the landing area come up quick as it landed and skidded close to the railway that ran on the outskirts of Tokyo-3.  
The Unit put one hand on the underside of the railway to stabilise itself and looked towards the other metallic mechs that lined the ridge, which were scrambling to turn around and aim towards Unit-06.  
The Unit slowly crouched, sheathing its katana and made its way under the railway arch. Taking immediate cover under the tracks.  
As the mechs managed to turn around finally, the sound of rockets filled the air and the cliffs beneath the mechs exploded, resulting in the hasty scramble to hold on, all of which managed to hang on barely.  
Unit 06 looked out on the other side of the tracks, seeing several military VTOL's in formation, moving to cover its position.  
The loud whine of a sound system being turned on came from the VTOLs. Misato's voice spoke to the mechs.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi of NERV. You are firing upon NERV property and are within Japanese borders. You are ordered to drop your weapons and leave immediately!"

Amongst the mechs was one that had blue stripping on its right shoulder, obviously the leader as the mechanical head turned to the other mechs before making the first slow move, holstering its weapon and moving away from the VTOLs. The other mechs slowly followed suit. Begrudgingly giving up the chase on Unit-06.

* * *

"Mind if I join you?" Ritsuko asked.

"Go ahead." Misato said with a sigh.

Ritsuko stepped into the elevator, standing by Misato's side. She was carrying several folders under her right arm. The elevator doors closed and the floor ticker by the elevator door slowly clicked away as the small confined space travelled to the intended destination.

"Section 2 are already debriefing the pilot as we speak. They've sent some paperwork to your desk to mull over in the mean time." Ritsuko said as she handed Misato a folder.

"Why are Section 2 interested in him?" Misato said as she took the folder.

"To date, no single pilot is capable of starting up an Evangelion without help. It's why we have the MAGI and technicians. So if the pilot did have help, this could complicate things." Was the response Ritsuko gave.

"Quite a bundle of mess we've inherited." Misato said.

"Regardless of the results Misato. We've gained another Unit. Its currently being stored in a safe location."

"So, only a small amount of paperwork?" Misato asked, looking at Ristuko.

"Well..."

Misato's eyes slowly went from left to right, seeing the huge stacks of paperwork before her. There was a good four to five stacks of paperwork that covered a large area of her office desk. All of which were about a metre in height, give or take a few folders. Some were even marked as "Military", which had been arranged into two tall stacks by themselves, they towered over the other piles. Misato sighed and looked at the paperwork in defeat.

"Uughhh this is why I hate politics. It's so messy." Misato said with a defeated look.

Ritsuko stood beside Misato before the paperwork. "I said before that Unit-06 was a political hot potato. You have a pile from the IPEA, the requisition orders more specifically, then there is Zodiac's protests about the Unit, Zodiac's protests on being kicked out of Japan and finally the Japanese military for the VTOLs you "borrowed" to scare off Zodiac."

Ritsuko put a hand on Misato's shoulder and gave her a steaming cup of coffee.

"I suggest you get started." Ritsuko said with a slight smile.

Misato took the cup into her hands and sat down at the desk, looking at the pile of paperwork before her. As Ritsuko left the room, Misato's forehead quickly slammed into the desk with a groan of defeat escaping her lips.

* * *

The humid evening air had started to settle in before Misato had the chance to call Shinji. He'd been busy doing the dishes and other chores, wearing a small apron as he stood before the phone.

"Sorry I can't be there until later tonight. Are you gonna be alright?" Misato asked.

"Yeah it's alright Misato. I've already fed Pen-Pen and Asuka is in the shower." Shinji replied. This had not been the first time Misato had been late at work. He was kinda getting used to it.

"Just be sure not to peek this time ok?"

"M-Misato!" Shinji exclaimed.

Misato giggled on the phone, it was so easy to tease Shinji about the earlier ruckus that happened when Asuka last came out of the shower.

"I'll see you later Shinji." Misato said as she calmed down her giggling.

"See you later Misato."

As Shinji put the phone down, the phone rang once again. Shinji looked surprised and picked it up, answering the call.

"Asuka! Phone!" Shinji shouted down the corridor.

The curtain leading to the bathroom flung open as Asuka stepped out quickly, heading for the corridor out of the kitchen, but stopped short upon seeing Shinji at the phone and pressed herself against the nearby wall, peeking from around the corner.

"Pass the phone out here!" She shouted.

"Why?" He asked.

"You really think I'm that stupid to let you see me naked again? As if! Pervert!" Asuka shouted from around the corner.

A hand soon outstretched from the corridor. Shinji had obviously learned his painful lesson from last time.

"Here." He said.

Asuka snatched the phone with her right hand and covered her breasts with her right forearm, shooing Shinji away with her left hand before bringing the phone to her ear. Answering in German. "Hallo?"

A ring of the doorbell rang out throughout the apartment. Asuka ignored it to concentrate on the conversation.

"I got it!" Shinji shouted.

Asuka ignored the idiot, who's feet made a gentle padded sound as he headed for the door, Asuka kept the conversation going on the phone, speaking in German.

Shinji opened the door to see Ro Sohryu standing there with a long red and black sports bag hanging from his shoulder, while being on the phone to Asuka at the same time. He was wearing a dark jacket and torn jeans that showed bits and pieces of his entry plug suit. Ro quickly put his finger to Shinji's lips to shut him up and pushed him to the side, getting out of his shoes quickly and walking in quickly. He began to speak in German on the phone, his eyes perking up as he noticed that Asuka's German replies came from the kitchen and quickly noticed the steam coming out. He began to head for the kitchen, turning the conversation back to Japanese.

"Hey sis, how are the showers here?" He asked.

"Too hot if you ask me." She replied.

Ro chuckled as he slowly walked down the corridor. "Ah come on, we know you can't stand hot water."

"They just need better plumbing." She said.

"Well you better cover up quick Sis."

"Why's that?" She asked.

Ro threw the sports bag around the corner, making Asuka catch it.  
Ro appeared from around the corner, ending the phone call and adverting his eyes initially from his sister's still naked body.

"Well so that I can at least not get my ass kicked on getting here." Ro said. He opened the fridge and quickly noticed the large amount of beer in the fridge.

"Misato certainly hasn't changed these past few years it seems." He said as he sighed and closed the fridge. Finally he turned his attention to his sister, who was all too aware of her situation, clutching at the sports bag to cover herself up.

"Just like old times. Right? You better put something on or you'll catch a cold." He pointed out to her.

Asuka fumed and clutched at the bag more tightly, slowly walking sideways like a crab into the bathroom, her face steaming red in embarrassment.  
It was at this point that Shinji finally decided to make his entrance into the kitchen he had called home. Still wearing his apron from the chores he'd been doing.

"And just who are you?" Shinji said with a shocked expression.

As Shinji asked what was to him, an intruder into his personal space, Ro found the small fridge with the more normal cans of drink, taking out a can of fizzy orange and loudly opened it.

"Ro Sohryu. Recently transferred from Germany. Fellow Evangelion pilot like you."

Ro took a couple of sips of the drink, tasting the orange flavour mixed with the high sugar content of the fizzy drink. He let out a sigh as the can moved from his lips.

"Though to be honest, I wasn't expecting the Third Child to be wearing an apron." Ro said with a bemused look.

"This is just for chores!" Shinji said defensively.

Ro raised his head a little, looking Shinji up and down. "Right. Chores. Looks more like a house broken guy to me."

"And you don't?" Shinji asked.

Ro looked at Shinji as the can came up to his lips again. Tasting the cold orange flavour on his lips. "I'm not afraid to get a little dirty."

* * *

The door hissed open, Misato hardly paid it any notice, the sound of the heels behind her were dulled by her focus on the paperwork.  
The sound of a full coffee cup caught her attention though. She raised her tired head slowly.  
Before her stood Felia Annata Sohryu, dressed smartly in a charcoal grey stripped suit, her fingers evenly spaced on the rim of the coffee cup. She looked down at Misato and smiled.

"Need some help?"

* * *

The door opened and Misato and Felia stepped in. Misato took her shoes off and Felia soon followed. Not wanting to cause offense.

"I'm home." Misato said, though to no-one in particular.

Felia sniffed the air, giving a slight smile.

"Yep, this is definitely your home. I can smell the beer."

Misato gave a small chuckle, she looked tired from all of the work she'd done as well as the journey.

"Would you care for some?" Misato offered.

"No thank you. Coffee will do for me." Felia said with a wave of her hand.

Asuka rushed from the kitchen, now casually dressed, Ro and Shinji slowly walked behind. Asuka gave Felia a hug, wrapping arms around her big sister's waist.

The group all greeted each other. Misato was a little reserved about greeting Ro, claiming fatigue. She introduced Felia to Shinji, both shook hands in greeting. Misato walked off in the mean time, heading for her room, dumping her work bag and jacket and collapsing onto the bed while the conversation continued outside, moving to the kitchen.

"You're still in your plug suit?" Felia asked as she met Ro.

Ro looked down, having taken off the jacket, he'd still left the ripped pair of jeans on, not changing out of his entry plug suit.

Ro shrugged his shoulder "I don't have much for a change of clothes, I left most of them on the ship. Zodiac didn't exactly want to wait for house moving."

"Then be glad that I stopped by then and picked these up. The crew was holding onto your things for you." Felia said as she sat down a bag bulging with clothes, but what caught Ro's eyes was the suitcase Felia had sat down on the table.

Ro's eyes widened and a large smile came across his face. He grabbed the suitcase and hugged it tightly.

"Oh Ripper! I missed you so much! You're my number one Christmas item and I'm never gonna leave you again!"

He kissed the suitcase. Lifting it up and holding onto it tightly.

"Ummmm Ripper?" Shinji asked.

"It's a present I got from a couple of teachers on the advanced course." Ro said with a smile.

Misato emerged an hour or two later from her room, changing into a set of casual clothes, she stretched and yawned, making her way to the kitchen. Felia had taken to sleeping on the couch, sitting up with her head propped up by her arm leaning on the arm of the couch.  
In the kitchen sat Shinji and Ro, chatting away about things. Shinji had never known about the advance training course that Ro had taken and was learning about it. Misato took a beer from the fridge and sat down in one of the free chairs. Ro soon excused himself to the bathroom, citing a change of clothes as he realised it was getting late. But before Ro could get to the door, Shinji spoke up. "Be careful though, I think the bathroom is in use!"

Ro looked back with an eyebrow raised, right hand reaching forward for the handle.

"In use? But the only ones here are Asuka, Felia and Misa-"

Suddenly the door slammed open, knocking Ro back into the wall, the frame slamming onto his nose, he slumped down onto the floor.  
A small, black shape waddled out of the bathroom, Ro held his nose as he looked up and came face to face with Pen-Pen. The bird squawked at him. Ro's face contorted into rage.

The curtain to the bathroom flew open as Pen-Pen waddled out at high speed, squawking loudly in fear with Ro close behind, carrying a plastic stool above his head, cursing and swearing in a mixture of German and Japanese as he chased the waddling penguin around the table several times. Misato's eyes followed him around, not moving a muscle.

"You get back here you kleines Stück Scheiße! I'll teach you to smack doors in people's faces! I'm gonna skin you and use you as Hausschuhe!" Ro yelled.

With that last remark, Misato turned her chair and stuck her foot out, sending Ro flying, he landed face first into the plastic seat, his face bouncing up and then landing hard on the floor, skidding to a halt. Pen-Pen waddled around the table one more time and came up behind Ro, jumping onto his back and then sitting on his head.

"Now now Ro, Pen-Pen is just as much a roommate as anyone else. So he is not leaving."

Ro slowly lifted his head, Pen-Pen still sat on top of his head, squawking and flapping away.

"I hate this bird." Ro grumbled.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 01:**

**Part 2: A demonstration for those who fight.**

The blinding sunlight of the new day was only matched by the calls of the cicadas. The clunk of metal was lost on the empty street as Felia stood up, cradling a can in her hand and opening it, taking a couple of gulps, as if desperate for the taste like she'd been travelling through the desert.

Her eyes were shielded from the blinding heat, but her skin felt the sizzling rays. The world, Japan in particular, had gotten used to a winterless year.  
She walked towards the shade where Ro was, he was talking with the manager, an old man in his late eighties, the key finally switching hands and she joined Ro's side as he walked to the elevator.

"That took a while." She said.

Ro didn't immediately answer her, his eyes forward as he waited for the elevator doors to open, stepping in and promptly pushing the button for their floor, waiting for the doors to close on them before he spoke.

"Senile more likely, could hardly remember anything." Ro said with an annoyed tone.

The lift jolted as it reached their floor, the doors creaked and groaned as they opened, which did not put much confidence into Ro.

Ro pointed with his thumb. "Who recommended this?"

"NERV. They want me living low key." Felia replied.

Felia took the first step onto the floor, above and bow there were whole families that lived in one apartment, clothes hung over the railing.

"There are better ways to live low key." Ro said as he stepped out of the elevator and walked in front of her.

"A bunk bed in a warehouse is not low key." Felia said as a bite back at him.

Ro suddenly stopped the both of them, his body frozen.  
Felia's short protest was ignored by Ro as he checked the number on the key, comparing it to the door number and began to shush Felia.

"Someone's broken in." He said to her. This made her freeze for a second as she realized what he said.

Ro crouched by the open door, leaning his head to one side to listen to the noises. Someone was definitely grunting in there.  
He unzipped the red and black sports bag slowly, trying to limit the sound it made, he pulled out the long rectangular suitcase, opening it up to reveal a gun, which had 2 words sprayed in white on the side. The first was "AA12". The second was "RIPPER" with the quotation marks included. The name Ro had mentioned last night. Ro snapped in a rectangular clip magazine on the underside, which read "12" on the side, most likely indicating its ammo capacity. After putting the magazine in, he pulled the slider back and locked it into position with a click.  
Ro slowly pushed the door open with his right hand, raising the AA12 in his left as he peered in slowly.  
Inside of the apartment was a drawer that was at the foot of Felia's bed. Standing in front of that was a large obese male. Wearing a blue chequered shirt with the sleeves rolled up and wearing a cap backwards. Panting and grunting, obviously too focused on whatever it was that he was working on, his back facing the doorway. Ro slowly stood up and swapped the AA12 into his right hand. Finger on the trigger.  
He crept forward slowly and silently, his gaze turning to the shower on the left. Not seeing anyone in there. He slowly continued to creep into the main room. The light shone through one of the windows and covered part of the weapon. His brow came down as he slowly moved towards the guy. AA12 raised and gently snuck up on him and put the barrel against the back of the guy's head.

"Don't... Move." Ro said sternly.

The large obese man actually made a squeak as he realised he'd been caught with his pants down. His body frozen in fear.

"Hands up. Slowly." Ro ordered.

The panting man slowly complied. His hands slowly raised, with tissues stuck to them. He slowly turned around.  
He was wearing glasses. His large rotund head surrounded his small face and his belly was stretching out so much that the sweaty t-shirt he wore underneath the blue chequered shirt couldn't cover it all.  
Ro stood back in disgust. That and the guy's pants were undone, his underwear clearly visible.  
Ro motioned with his gun as he started to speak. "Who are you?"

"B-B-Bennett." The man responded.

Ro poked the man's nose with the barrel. "And just what exactly are you doing here? How did you even get in here?"

The man's arms dropped. "Oh come on. Don't tell me you don't know that Felia Annata Sohryu is finally in the country. And there are plenty of newspapers that are willing to pay for information on her."

"Let me guess. Spy cams?" Ro asked, his gun lowered a little bit.

"The best!" Bennett exclaimed.

The guy turned around, excited at showing Ro the perfectly crafted spycam sitting on the desk, his large chubby fingers just above it as if to show it off.

**BOOM!**

The spycam shattered into thousands of different pieces which scattered into thousands of different directions. Bennett's expression was one of instant shock. He turned with anger in his face, but soon came face to face to the smoking barrel of Ro's AA12.

"Listen, Bennett? Is it? I don't care much for your crap. You trying to get dirt on my SISTER is bad enough. Now you have exactly ten seconds to zip up your flies and start running. Because if you're in my line of sight when I get to ten, I won't stop shooting at you until you stop twitching on the floor.  
NOW!  
ONE!"

With that countdown, Bennett immediately grabbed for the front of his pants and ran out of the room, heading for the nearest elevator, with Ro close behind, counting down with the AA12 raised.  
Bennett panicked as he saw the elevator was slow in coming up the elevator shaft. He looked back at Ro and dashed for the stairs, tripping and falling down the stairs. Or more rather, rolled down the stairs from his large obese shape followed with the occasional cry of pain.  
Ro lowered his gun after the cries of pain began to get quieter, he slowly walked back to Felia, picking up his open bag.

"Friend of yours?" She asked him.

"Another one of your "fans". I'll have to get Section 2 called in to sweep this apartment for bugs. Until then, I guess we go someplace else for the time being." Ro said as he put his AA12 into the bag and zipped it up, hanging the strap over his shoulder

"Pardon me Ro, but where exactly ARE we gonna stay?" She asked as she followed him.

"Best place to go to. Gotenba base. They have bunk beds there and its out of the public reach. Plus you can supervise. So let's go."

* * *

"A break in? Already? I thought the place was secure?" Fuyutsuki asked. He had been reading his morning paper in Gendo's large expansive office when Gendo broke the news.

Gendo was calm as he looked out onto the Geofront. "Indeed. We'll need to re-evaluate the measures of our security. If someone were to manage to access our more sensitive information through a similar method, NERV and SEELE would have to devote resources to plug up the dam."

"Are the MAGI secure?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Doctor Akagi assures me the MAGI are secure, but she is implementing a couple of security measures just in case."

"Code 666?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"It will be implemented as standard on all of the systems from now on. But officially, it's just another security patch. Felia Sohryu will be assisting with the implementation of the algorithms from the other NERV bases."

* * *

"Felia? Are you sure about this? I wouldn't risk going out if the apartment was any indication." Ro said with a concerned look on his face.

"Don't worry about me Ro. I can take care of myself. You just keep an eye out for any Angels. The staff here know the drill." Felia said as she drank the last of her drink.

Ro sighed and put his hands to his hips. Visually showing his displeasure at how things had been handled so far. "Alright, give me a call if there is any trouble."

Felia gave a small smile. Putting a hand on Ro's shoulder to reassure him.

"Will do."

And with that, she stepped out and the door closed behind her. Leaving Ro alone in the control room by himself. He sat into one of the chairs, leaned back into his seat, his neck craned backwards so that he could only see the ceiling, followed by a loud sigh.

"Yep... Ro Sohryu. Evangelion pilot. Saviour of ALL humanity. Stuck behind a desk."

* * *

Felia put her brunch and briefcase down, setting her laptop up besides her food, the sunlight beamed in brightly behind her. She put the straw of her Frappuccino to her lips. The Japanese, she had to admit, had a good way of working, even with all of the escalators that ferried people up and down around her, the transit hub was a nice place to settle down for a few minutes. Something to eat and do some work. It was simply... convenient.

"Well, this is a lovely sight indeed."

Felia's shoulders raised an inch along with an annoyed expression on her face. She quickly regained composure to stop herself from spilling her Frappuccino.

"Hello Ryoji." She said coldly.

The tone was not exactly welcoming, but Kaji Ryoji, whether ignoring the signs through ignorance or simply plain man-ego, continued to sit next to Felia, his left arm resting on the back of her chair.  
This annoyed Felia more who put the straw again to her lips, trying to not be any more visibly irritated.  
He was in her personal space and she did not appreciate it one bit.

"So why are you here Felia? You're not one to be in the field as I recall. That is more Misato's department." Kaji asked in his usual suave way.

"The IPEA and NERV have special interests in Unit-02 and Unit-06. It's only natural that I oversee things." Felia answered in a more professional tone.

"That sounds like a professional answer, but what about personally?" Kaji asked, he had clocked onto that professional tone of her's.

"Asuka and Ro are both good pilots, they know how to handle themselves."

"If you want my personal opinion? I think your just using business to cover for the fact that you worry about them."

Felia looked at Kaji, who just sat there, grinning.

"I not going to dignify that with a response." She said.

"I'm hurt. Ow." Kaji said this as he leaned back, pretending to be insulted and hurt by Felia's words.

"Shouldn't you be off wooing other women? Like Misato?" Felia asked, nodding into Misato's direction, who had settled down with her meal, performing the traditional praise for her meal. Kaji smiled at the notion.

"Your right, I should. Old flames are easier to tickle." He said as he stood up.

With that remark, Kaji left Felia alone. She soon lifted the laptop screen up, booting it up and burying herself into her work.  
Her phone rang and she immediately picked it up, still typing with the other hand. Her Frappuccino sat half empty.

"Hello? How's things? Mmmmmm. Wish I could help, but you're a big girl now, you'll have to figure something out. I'm not worried so long as it doesn't cause trouble. Ok, talk to you soon. Bye."

Felia put the phone down and looked up at where Kaji and Misato sat, the latter of whom could be seen blushing with Kaji putting on that smooth smile of his.

Men.

* * *

The next couple of days had been quiet for the most part, things had settled down in a calm routine as the city bustled with life, everyday normal people going to and from work, shifts changing. Shinji's day of travelling, meeting with his classmates, how Rei and Asuka adapted to class, it seemed like life was normal, seeming to be another lifetime far from the days of fighting Angels, life slowing everything down to an easy walk.

"So Ro decided against this field trip with Kaji?" Misato asked, lowering her drink.

Shinji nodded in acknowledgment, Misato sat at the table before him, packaged food and folders of her work piled up together in equal measure, she didn't keep her work secret whilst at home. Unless there was a guest present. Asuka's handheld device could be heard going off with electronic beeps, explosions and other sounds coming from the other room. Shinji packed another container into his bag, filling up with extra food and other things for the trip.

"Mr Kaji said I could bring anyone I wanted. But when I asked Ro, he "politely" refused." Shinji said with a slight chuckle. Remembering his response.

Misato sat her drink down, the amount of alcohol had lessened in the past couple of days, but she still drank a fair bit regardless.

"Of course he did. I'll sit this trip out as well thanks."

Asuka's voice piped up from the other room, going over her handheld. She hadn't even entered the kitchen to reply.

"Cool, then I'll just hang out with you for the day!"

Shinji and Misato looked towards where the voice was, Shinji stopped packing his bag, wondering what to do with the lunch he'd made for Asuka as well as anyone else.

Misato leaned her head back "No ma'am! Your still harmonising! Your sticking with Shinji today."

Asuka popped out from the living room, clutching her handheld game system, buzzing with an electronic game over tone.

"Is that another order?" She said with an annoyed look.

* * *

The air was a mixture of smells. The fresh clean air, the smell of oil and fish along with the iron smell of blood, the red sea outside clashed with the smell of clean ocean coming from the facility.  
Overhead hung the small dark shapes of seagulls, their calls radiating out to anything within earshot. The wind that blew was a gentle breeze, typical of what was expected from the coast. The group of kids: Asuka, Shinji, Rei, Toji and Kensuke had met up at the nearby train station. Shinji had been holding onto Pen-Pen throughout the entire trip. Asuka's refusal of even touching the bird was somewhat understandable.

Kaji had gone ahead of them, organising with the staff for the trip, he stood at the checkpoint with the staff members, already dressed in a set of decontaminated overalls.  
Ahead of the group was large metal door that had a clear sign posted above that read as:

**International Environmental Agency**

** Japan Marine Ecosystem Preservation Research Organization.**

The sign itself had clear signs of old age, despite the amount of times it had been cleaned and polished over the years. But the door below showed little signs of ageing itself, possibly from being a more newer addition. Kaji could be seen taking over the speaker to talk to the kids.

"Alright everyone. It gets a little complicated from here."

As the doors finally opened to the group, they looked up to expect another lot of decontamination as they had already gone through six stages of being photographed, scolding hot water, dunked in water, freezing cold water, dunked again, withstood the inside of the world's biggest hair dryer and finally came to the last door.

But instead they found before them the containers that carried all kinds of sea life. Their eyes widened as they stared at the animals floating in the clean water, turtles, fish, jellyfish. Shinji, Toji, Kensuke and Pen-Pen all rushed out of the doors, leaving Asuka and Rei to slowly walk out.

The boys pressed their faces to the glass, smiling and laughing loudly in amazement. Seeing the water blue and full of life. Even Pen-Pen joined in by approaching the penguin enclosure. Trying to put forward his dominance as the most intelligent bird in the world. Standing proud before the other penguins as they flapped their wings.

Everyone was happy.

* * *

Ro sat in his chair, slowly sucking on his udon noodles with deep-fried tofu, the take-out bag close by labelled it as _Kitsune-Udon_, the entire loading bay was quiet, the control room deafening with the silence. He was the only occupant, watching over his Eva as it drifted and floated in the LCL, the red spherical core held above the chest, he was under an embargo after all.

"Sure is boring around here." Ro said to himself. The silence was the only thing that greeted his words.

Ahead of him, in the center of all the readouts and stats on his Eva, was an aerial map of Tokyo-3, everything was just too quiet.  
Suddenly, his phone buzzed, he looked at it in confusion, noodles in his mouth, he finished what was in his mouth and sat his noodles down on the table before him.

"Who the hell could be calling me at a time like this?" He asked himself.

He picked the phone up, checking the number, it was withheld, normally he wouldn't bother, but the timing peaked his curiosity. He shrugged his shoulders as he flipped the phone open, putting it to his ear.

"Hello?" Ro said as he answered the call.

"Hi, just wanted to let you know that there's a BIG fish on the way and it's got lasers, so bring a shield."

The call ended abruptly with the person hanging up, the voice was definitely female, but not one he recognised.

"The hell?" Ro said with a puzzled look on his face.

The klaxons went off, red light and blaring warning sounds went on full blast, the aerial map showed a ping at the top of the screen, an object was coming in from the sea, Ro's eyes grew in size as he stared at the object. It certainly wasn't a ship, it was too big.  
It was an Angel.  
And it was heading straight for the water treatment plant that Asuka and the others were at.

"Scheiße!"

Ro ran from his chair, knocking it over as he ran for the Eva cage.

* * *

Mari closed the phone, smiling as she looked out the window, seeing the Angel on the warpath towards the Water Treatment Plant.

"That was quite fun, I'm interested in seeing what you can do. Ro Sohryu."

She pushed her glasses up a bit, readjusting them, the sunlight beaming off the lens of her glasses.

"We're about to reach the PNR. Last chance to abort." The pilot said to her from the cockpit.

"And miss the show? I think not. Carry on course. I'll infiltrate as planned." Mari said with a smile.

* * *

Misato lay in the bath tub, the beer having calmed her nerves, the hot water relaxing her down and undoing the knots in her muscles.  
Suddenly her work phone rang, the unique ringtone compared to the house phone made sure that she promptly picked it up and answered it immediately.

"Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi." She responded.

The response didn't bring good news as Misato soon stood up, splashing water everywhere.

"What? I'll be ready shortly. Scramble the Eva's for launch, I'll take care of contacting the remaining pilots."

* * *

The meal had descended in an chaotic mix as Asuka and Toji argued as Pen-Pen flapped about trying to get an extra meal. As the argument continued, Kaji felt his mobile buzz in his pocket, he brought it out to check the caller ID, it was Misato. But it was the emergency ID they'd agreed if the pilots were needed.  
He flipped the phone open, bringing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

Whatever Misato was saying on the phone was lost to everyone in the room, lost in their own little worlds. Kaji's face stayed cool and calm, his responses were calm. The phone call ended and he stood up, towering over everyone.

"Alright everyone, it's time to go." Kaji said in his usual laid back tone.

"But we just sat down Mr Kaji." Shinji said with a puzzled look.

"I know. But you three need to get to your Evas."

* * *

NERV center was abuzz with activity, klaxons sounded as status screens came up.

"Unauthorized Evangelion activation! Repeat! Unauthorized Evangelion activation!" The automated systems blurted out loudly amongst the klaxons, the walls of NERV's command center lit up with Alert symbols.

"Gotenba base is reporting that Unit-06 has been activated and launched, satellite imagery shows the Unit is heading on a direct course for the Water Treatment Plant at Lake Ashino!" Makoto said, the holographic projection of Tokyo-3 was brought up, showing Unit-06 and the projected route it was taking.

"No connections can be established with the pilot! All we're getting is the data feed from the Entry plug." Maya shouted, the status of Ro inside of the Entry plug came up on the right hand side of the command center.

"The MAGI have received a requisition order for armaments from Unit-06. Holding off on the order." Shigeru piped in.

"See if you can access Unit-06's systems and shut it down remotely." Fuyutsuki ordered.

The klaxons went off with a new alert, the top of the main screen showed a blip in the water.

"Unknown object detected on a trajectory with the Water Treatment Plant at Lake Ashino!" Makoto shouted as he worked on the keyboard.

"Analysis is in! We have confirmed blue. It's an Angel!" Maya exclaimed to the Vice Commander.

Gendo slowly came up the lift to his lookout, Fuyutsuki stood up and turned to face Gendo.

"Fuyutsuki. Allow Unit-06 to acquire its requisition order and contact the rest of the pilots. We need a status update." Gendo ordered calmly as he took his seat.

* * *

Unit-06 was already in motion, charging down the center of Tokyo-3. The time it had taken him to get there from Gotenba base had allowed most of the citizens to clear his path. Ro was pushing his Eva forward as much as he could within the city. Buildings slowly got into the combat mode as the evacuation took place. Giving Ro sight to the Treatment Plant. Ahead of him rose two buildings from the ground, the shutters on the side slide up, metal holders sliding out, producing the shield and katana that Ro had ordered.

"Finally!" Ro exclaimed.

The Eva put its right hand out, grabbing the shield, still in stride, the Eva put its left hand out, grabbing the katana within its sheath, ripping both objects from their holders, not caring about the damage caused, he didn't have time to take the safety route. Ro held onto both tightly and did his best to maintain the high speed of his run.

* * *

Misato shifted the car into the highest gear it would allow, the engine became louder as it speed up the wheels, in the passenger seat beside her were the plug suits for Shinji, Rei and Asuka, the Sat Nav showing her route as she followed the train tracks on the outskirts of the city.

"Yes that's right. I'm on route to the pilots, launch all of the remaining Evas along the train tracks. It's the most direct route to the Water Treatment Plant." She ordered.

The train tracks above her hummed as the electricity charged the tracks and three objects were launched at high speed down the track. Her car was having trouble keeping up with them, despite her foot firmly planted on the gas pedal.  
With a bit of luck, she'd arrive just as the pilots were getting ready for the three Eva units that had been sent hurtling down the tracks.

* * *

Ro noticed the three Eva Units flying along the train track some distance away. Each Unit was carried by a specialized transport that carried the Units along the rail tracks at high speed. Unit-01 was the first in line, followed by Unit-00 and then Unit-02.  
He turned his attention forward, noticing the spark of light on the horizon before the energy beam surged forward and flew through the air.  
Ro ducked and rolled his Eva, the beam curved over him, hitting buildings and slicing to the right, going through the train tracks in front of Unit-01.

The automatic breaks for the Eva Transports kicked in, but it wasn't enough as Unit-01 and 00 were sent flying into the ground below, sending up large volumes of dirt from the first and second impacts. Unit-02 stopped, hanging half off the track, teetering on the edge.

Ro stood the Eva up at the end of the roll, quickly getting back to top running speed, checking his right side.  
He was on his own.

* * *

Misato screamed as the rubble from the train tracks came down in front of her, swerving the car to the right, it skidded and stopped short of the impact crater. She held the wheel tightly and took a breath before she looked out of the window, seeing Unit-00's head laying on one side as well as the transports themselves were wrecked through the large plumes of smoke. She looked out to the city and saw Unit-06 carry on its path to the Treatment Plant. She grabbed the gear stick and put the car into gear, driving off to the Treatment Plant as well.

* * *

The group trailed behind Asuka as she rushed up the stairs that hung on the side of the plant, the smell of the red sea below was almost overwhelming. Forced to suck in the air as they gasped for breath as they rushed as well.  
Toji and Kensuke were hugging onto the railing, sucking in air as they were the least fit of the group. Ahead of Shinji was Kaji, going up two or three steps at a time. Shinji panted as he carried Pen-Pen in his arms. Who was squawking loudly with every step. Rei panted silently behind him.

As expected, Asuka was the first up the stairs, looking out to the red sea, seeing the shape in the distance. It shone brightly and suddenly she felt a large amount of air pushing on her.

Asuka put her arm up, shielding her eyes from the light and wind, only to see a dark shape with a shield pressing against the light the next second. She struggled to stand, but it became easier as the light and wind died down eventually, but the feeling of heat was apprehensive. She slowly looked up, seeing Unit-06 was holding a partially melted shield, the heat from the shield made the air hazy, the head of the Unit turned towards her as her brother spoke on the Eva's loudspeaker.

"What are you waiting for Sis?! Get going! I got this!"

Asuka's lowered hand was grabbed and pulled sharply, turning around, seeing Kaji dragging her away.

* * *

Ro kept his gaze on his sister for a couple of seconds before turning back to the approaching Angel, throwing the melted shield away to the side, letting it crash to the ground below. Crushing a couple of security outposts.

Ahead of him he saw the Angel dive into the way, he grabbed the long handle of the katana and pulled the long blade out of the sheath, the sharp side began to hum as he dropped the sheath.

A massive red wave of water rose as the Angel launched out of the water, the jaws opened up as it roared, exposing the shining core inside.

Kill spot.

Ro didn't hesitate, he clenched his teeth, both left and right hands gripping the handle as he thrust forward, the jaws enveloped around the Eva as the katana blade struck into the core, sparks flying for a few seconds before dying down, the core rumbled and soon expanded, bulging out before exploding all over the Eva's hands in a bloody mess.

A few second passed before the Angel slumped down, half out of the water, the tail end submerged in the red sea water.

The blade of the katana rose from between two of the three jaws the Angel had, struggling with the bone for a few seconds before effortlessly slicing through the meat of the jaw, which was pushed up from the inside and folded over, landing with a relatively soft thud, teeth pointed upward as it was pushed off, the Evangelion Unit-06 stepped out slowly, the neon green eyes glowing brightly, the whole Unit was covered in the Angel's blood. And the remains of the destroyed core was exposed to the air.

* * *

Ro leaned back in his entry plug, breathing a sigh of relief. Hearing the com chatter of NERV personnel working away. He lifted his head up, looking up at the sky. His vision blurred from the streaks of blood running down the screens. But despite the blood on the screen, he still noticed something and his eyes focused on a little black shape slowly flying above in the evening sky. He leaned forward a little, pulling up an semi-transparent magnifier screen with a gesture of his fingers, upon closer inspection, he could see it was one of the VTOL aircraft of the Japanese military. He frowned for a second before shaking his head and muttering to himself.

"Nah, that couldn't be it."

* * *

Asuka and Shinji leaned against a nearby fence, Asuka playing away on her handheld game system, Shinji with a blank expression on his face as the two adults argued in front of them. Their guardian for the day and their legal guardian. Both of whom had been at it since Misato's hasty arrival, who had wasted no time in making sure that she was not happy about the whole situation.  
The argument between Misato and Kaji was soon short lived as they were slowly overshadowed by Ro's Eva standing there, putting the katana back into its sheath. His voice coming over the external sound system for the Eva.

"So... About that back-up?" Ro asked.

* * *

"You were an idiot!" Felia shouted.

The can clattered as it fell to the bottom tray, Ro picked it up and opened it, still clad in his plug suit.

"Hey! What else was I suppose to do? That Angel was headed straight for Asuka." Ro pointed out. He raised the can to his lips and gulped the contents loudly.

Felia took a step closer as Ro drank. "NERV has its systems in place for a reason. You can't just be charging off regardless."

Ro's hand holding the can flew to one side, an annoyed expression prominent on his face, obviously not caring if some of his drink spilled onto the floor.

"Reality check! That Angel took out the Evas and if I had've launched after that incident, Asuka would've been fish food! So take a hint and buy a clue! My plan worked!"

Felia stood closer to Ro as he gulped more of his can down.

"This time. It only worked this time. Next time... I'll throw the cut-off switch myself." Felia said sternly, pointing a finger right at Ro.

Ro gulped down the last of the drink. He looked at Felia with indifference now, not caring about anything.

"Whatever. I have to get changed out of this plug suit. See you later."

Ro threw the can haphazardly towards the open bin, not caring if it hit and went in or missed and bounced off. He walked off from the vending machines into the corridor and slammed his fist onto the elevator call button, taking a breath or two to calm down.

After a couple of moments, the doors opened up in front of him. But a tall, dark shape stood before him. Looking down at him behind those amber glasses.

"Scheiße." Ro cursed under his breath.

"Ro Sohryu. My office. Now." Gendo ordered.

Ro sighed and dropped his head, hands on his hips. He slowly walked into the elevator, the doors closed in behind him slowly.  
The elevator ride was long, very long. The floor ticker clicked the levels away like the impending doom of execution. Ro crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Occasionally looking at Gendo, who stood perfectly still, his hands behind his back. Patiently waiting for his floor.  
The elevator sounded a DING as it reached its intended destination. The doors opened up to reveal Gendo's office. It was wide, expansive. The windows covered three of the four walls, the elevator on the forth. Ro could see the faint markings of a symbol on the floor, with a starry sky for a ceiling.  
Classy.

"Ro Sohryu, a recommendation."

As Gendo said this, he broke Ro's observation of the room. Gendo walked towards his desk in the large room, hands still behind his back. Ro slowly walked behind him, looking at the pattern on the floor and the ceiling in more detail as well as the view outside.

"Regardless of any action that you may have taken today and how justified it is. It is still against the Vatican Treaty to deploy a fourth Unit when three Evangelions are already operational within a country. NERV does not care about the IPEA's jurisdiction or ethics or emergency procedures within Japan's borders."

Gendo slowly sat at his desk, putting his hands together in front of his face, looking at Ro from behind those amber glasses. Shining brightly as the light from the Geofront hit the lenses.

"So regardless of any technicality that you may or may not bring up. I do not want any more unauthorized launches, no matter how justified the situation. If you wish to launch your Eva, you bring it to the most senior officer available. Is that understood?"

Ro stayed silent for a couple of moments, before narrowing his eyes a little, a stern expression had slowly taken over his face.

"Crystal."

"You may go." Gendo said.

Ro turned and slowly walked back to the elevator, his warning had been given.

"Just one more thing." Gendo said.

Ro stopped in his tracks and silently looked back at Gendo.

"You picked up a short, yet scrambled transmission shortly before the Angel appeared. Do you know anything about it?" Gendo asked. His expression remained still, almost unreadable.

Of course, the mysterious phone call that had warned Ro of the Angel's approach. This wasn't just a slap on the wrist. It wouldn't have been so easy.

Ro shrugged his shoulders in response. "Maybe I just have a little Angel looking over me. But no, I don't know who it was or why they'd help me. Are we done?"

There was a long pause, Gendo was making Ro wait before finally replying. "Yes."

Ro turned back to the elevator, the walk back was slow and silent, his footsteps the only thing to remind him of any sense of sound. It was like sensory deprivation of the ears. The button clacked loudly as he pushed it, the hissing of the doors opening offered a brightly lit confined space that he eagerly stepped into, pushing the elevator button for his floor. He stared at Gendo, still seated at his desk as the doors closed.

* * *

End


	2. Chapter 2

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 02:**

**Part 1: A forte invenire Deum.**

The airport was heaving as passengers departed and arrived from around the world. Despite the effects of the Second Impact and the more recent Angel attacks, life had carried on as it once did as the world connected with each other via technology, both in terms of communication and travel. The mass of bodies around the airport could be best described as a swarm in some instances, a sea to others, the heat making it a desert. But to Ro Sohryu. They were just things in his way. Footnotes and faces of people he didn't care much about.  
As he walked, Shinji was beside him. Chatting away about this or that. The events of the previous day had seemed a long time ago as Ro's mood had gotten to a more usually calm approach.

"So what are you doing here today? I'd thought this is something Felia would be doing?" Shinji asked, turning to move past people as they walked by.

"It is, but since the shipment technically came along with me, I have to sign off on the paperwork and hand it over to her, she takes over the transporting from there." Ro replied, his shoulders weren't so much being moved by the public as he was moving them instead, walking against the current of people moving.

Shinji turned to move past a person and suddenly felt a weight press against him. His own cry muffled as his face was pressed between a woman's breasts, his muffled cry going with a woman's shriek of surprised as she collided him, making him fall back with her on top of him, smothering him beneath her.  
The woman took a few seconds to regain herself before noticing him beneath her. She sat up, letting Shinji gasp for air. Her hand went to her face as she gasped, noticing her lack of glasses. She crawled off of him, searching for them.  
Shinji took a couple of seconds to sit up, shaking his head and looking at the young woman crawling around on her hands on knees, her red and green chequered skirt swayed as she looked left and right. Finally she found them and put them on.

"Oh sorry, are you okay?" She said as she looked back at him.

Despite the amount of people walking around them, Mari Illustrious crawled on her hands and knees towards Shinji, as her face drew close to his, she sniffed a couple of times. Before pulling back a little to face him.

"You smell good. I can smell the LCL on you. One of my favourite smells in the world." She said.

Mari stood up, all Shinji could do with gawk in surprise and awe as he looked up at her, she towered over him in her school girl outfit, her lenses shone as the light from the airport beamed off them, the people around them just walked past, forming a circle around them, enclosing them in their own little world.

"But let's pretend that I wasn't here, that ok with you little NERV doggy?" Mari said with a smile, handing Shinji back his SDAT player.

Shinji took his SDAT in hand, dusting himself off before a hand grabbed the underside of his arm, pulling him up. He initially gasped in surprised, but as he turned he saw Ro had helped him up.

"Geez Shinji, you really have to be more careful then that, I almost lost you there. Paperwork's all signed, so let's get out of this chicken farm." Ro said, dusting Shinji off some more.

As Ro slowly walked off, Shinji turned to where the girl was standing, but she had vanished amongst the sea of people, a call from Ro and a raised hand amongst the sea of people guided him to the entrance of the airport as he left.

* * *

Misato and Ritsuko stood under the gazebo that had been set up near to the recently deceased Angel at the Water Treatment Plant. NERV personnel were busy taking the creature apart piece by piece for transport. Heading to labs for analysis.

Some distance away, Misato noticed Felia negotiating with the staff of the Water Treatment Plant. They were obviously not happen judging from their arms waving in the air. But Felia's composure seemed to unfazed by the angry staff as she handed them a sizable folder containing documents. Their anger seemed to deflate a bit as they read the documents. They soon bowed and excused themselves, walking away. Felia walked to the nearby IPEA marked truck as it soon departed with the core for Unit-06.

Misato walked up to Ritsuko's side as the truck pulled away. "So who are the IPEA really? Ro seemed to have no problem in launching his Eva twice without authorization."

Ristuko stood up from her laptop, finishing up her report. "The IPEA was a group formed about the same time as NERV, their initial function was to oversee construction and handling of the Eva Units. Outside of that they also monitor Evangelion operations around the globe. Making sure the Vatican Treaty is adhered to."

Misato crossed her arms and scoffed at the idea. "Huh, sounds like they can't follow it themselves, let alone police other countries."

"They also have special rights if an Eva or a pilot went rogue. Most of the special agents have been trained in extensive Eva-to-Eva combat." Ritsuko added.

"Let me guess. That advanced training course Ro took?" Misato asked.

"I'd say that would be a good guess."

"But if we can remotely access a Eva Unit with the MAGI, why have Evas to police other Evas?" Misato asked curiously.

Ritsuko turned to face Misato. "Because while 90% of the time the MAGI may indeed be in control of an Eva's operational status, the IPEA found a few vulnerabilities and backdoor codes that pilots could exploit to take over the Unit and prevent staff from shutting down the Eva. So IPEA's solution was to have a pilot that could disable a rouge pilot."

"So who watches the watchers then?" Misato asked.

"Felia. Then it's the UN."

"Tch. Right." Misato scoffed.

* * *

Mari stood at a railing, standing at the cafe window looking down at the lobby, she suddenly gasped as she felt the coldness of a can touching her cheek, her body jolted and she turned to face whoever it was that had done it to her.  
Before her stood Kaji Ryoji, smiling and held the can out for her.

"So, would the young lady do me the honour in taking her out on a date perhaps?" Kaji asked in his smooth tone.

"Oh my, such a charming gentleman taking an innocent girl out on a date. What will they think?" Mari said as she put her hands to her cheeks, swaying and acting bashful and innocent.

Kaji bowed and offered her the drink of which she accepted and stood close to him as he stood up.

"Please, allow me to show the young lady to her car." Kaji said, gently walking with her towards the exit of the cafe.

As they went down the escalator, Kaji noticed a Section 2 NERV agent coming up the opposite escalator. He turned and took out a handkerchief and started to rub on Mari's forehead, making her squirm. He made some non-sense line about how she should take better care in cleaning her face after eating.  
After the agent passed by them, Kaji stopped and put the handkerchief back. Mari took hold of her glasses, readjusting them.  
They shortly arrived at the bottom of the escalator, Kaji lead his young "date" into the carpark and opened his car door for her. Always acting the gentleman. He closed the door and walked to the driver side and started the car up.

"Welcome to Japan."

* * *

Ro raised his hand and smiled as Shinji headed off to Misato's appointment. He turned back a few seconds later to Felia leaning out of the window, looking down at him.

"Fancy a lift Ro?" Felia asked.

"Nah, I'm good. I think I'll walk it." Ro replied, craning his head back to look up at you.

"Why not take a day out in Tokyo-3? You look like you should get used to a first person perspective of the city your meant to protect." Felia suggested to him.

"As much as I hate to admit, that's not a bad idea. Getting the layout of the city and all. I'll see you back at NERV later then." Ro said.

Felia slipped back into the IPEA truck and rolled the window up, the truck slowly pulled away. Disappearing down the road towards the airport.

After the truck has vanished from sight, Ro checked his watch. It was about mid-day or so. So he had plenty of time to go out and see the sights of Tokyo-3. Ro took out a set of earphones and pulls out his music player, pressing down on the touch screen for a gentle exercise song. He gently stretched his legs out and slowly took off into a gentle job in the opposite direction Felia had left in.

* * *

Felia's mobile rang and she plucked it out of her breast pocket, looking at the caller ID, seeing it was Asuka's she flipped the phone open and answered.

"Hallo Sis." Felia said on the phone, answering Asuka's call as the driver carried on his route. The truck shook a little as it carried along the road.

"Yes I'm doing alright. Just cleaning up Ro's mess. You know how guys can be." She said with a smile.

The driver was a large man with a thick moustache, his blue overalls covering his red jumpsuit, the IPEA logo on his shoulders. He had been quiet for most of the journey, but the conversation had made him occasionally look at Felia, unable to not overhear the conversation.

"Tonight? Wish I could, but I'm gonna be busy tonight, I'll extend an invitation to Ro if you want. No? That's ok." Felia said with a gentle smile, looking through her paperwork for something.

* * *

The music drummed into Ro's ears as his trainers slammed into the pavement, he mentally controlled his breathing as he jogged in the heat of the sun. His dark naval blue tracksuit and hoodie showed signs of sweat as he jogged. He'd been going through the center of Tokyo-3 and had just past through a marketplace. The smells of the spices still in his nose. Eventually though he soon found ahead of him on an empty road two men in suits wearing sunglasses standing by a black car with tinted windows that had been parked across both lanes of traffic. He slowed down and took his ear phones out.

"Guess your Section 2 right?" Ro asked.

"Mr Sohryu? Your to come with us to NERV headquarters."

Ro stopped in his tracks, he was really sweating from his run. "Really? Can't a kid get his morning run?"

"No." Was the straight answer.

Ro put his hands on his hips, he chuckled a little bit. "Well... Let me ask you this. Did you two get your morning run in?"

Both agents gave each other a confused look before turning back to Ro, who was already in a full speed run in the opposite direction. Both agents gave chase. But began to argue on who should take the car.

By the time they had set off, Ro had ran into a nearby marketplace, mingling amongst the crowd, darting into alleyways and climbing over fences. He soon lost them and carried on at a jog through Tokyo-3.

The streets and alleys and shops were crammed with bodies moving along their day. The bright sun shone overhead, an ever present reminder. Minutes had turned into hours as he wandered, keeping track of where he was. But eventually the heat from the crowd and the sun started to wear on him, but he knew he could go on for a bit further before having to get something to eat and drink.

As he turned toward the most central district, he saw a large black car drive past. Noticing that Commander Ikari was on the phone in the back seat.

* * *

The world was nothing more than blurry shapes and muffled noises from the outside world were drowned out under the sound of the car engine as Gendo spoke to the other person on the phone.

"Yes, all the members of the UN except the U.S. have approved the IPEA's budget request for Unit-06. It'll just be a matter of time before the U.S. approves as well. Then we can start officially selecting Unit-06 as a more combat ready option." Gendo said into the phone.

"You are aware that the U.S. are having financial trouble keeping afloat, although they don't want to admit to it of course." The other man on the phone said.

"And your own country?" Gendo asked.

"We will participate with the construction of Unit-08. However, there is a problem in locating a suitable pilot to test it once it's in a operational state."

"That is not our current concern. A suitable pilot will be found at the appropriate time." Gendo said. "I have to go now, I have an important meeting to get to."

With that Gendo, put the in-car phone down.

"Sounds like the Sixth Child will finally be of some use to us." Fuyutsuki said as he said opposite Gendo.

"It's inevitable. For now, we need to confirm the plans of the Mark VI series of Evangelions." Gendo said as the car passed under a sign indicating they were headed for the airport.

* * *

The agents stood by their car parked in an alley, discussing their next move on a map that been placed on the bonnet of their car, pointing to various locations to look into Ro's route. The agents jumped as they were startled by a can dropping by their feet and looked to where it came from, seeing Ro on top of a nearby trash container, gulping down the last of his drink before chucking it and an empty sandwich wrapper to the side, he jumped down from the trash container, giving the agents a small smile.

"Sup."

They didn't even look at each other this time, they simply started to run straight at him. Ro turned and ran as well, quickly running through the narrow section of the alleyway and clambering over a fence and out into the street. He could hear them struggle to get over the top and not rip their suits in the process. The brightness of the day was almost blinding as he ran out, the buildings had shielded his view from the sun while he was in the alley. Panting hard as he quickly gained the lead over the two agents.

To him, this was the most fun he had in a long time.

He looked back, seeing the agents slowing down, they had put up quite a chase and were finally panting out of breath, he turned forward and ran down the empty street. The wind brushing against him. But something caught his eye in his peripheral vision, it was the image of a strange figure, standing in the middle of the road. From what he saw, the figure was a young girl, her hair white, wearing a school uniform.

Ro paused in his run, slowing down to look at the figure more clearly, but the sudden sound of birds flying off startled him as he looked up, watching them fly off. Hearing the sound of cars approaching, he turned to face the figure, but she had vanished. He blinked a couple of seconds, a puzzled look on his face. Things were quiet until the last moment when he was grabbed by the pursuing agents from behind, tackling him down onto the ground.  
As he landed, Ro laughed at them.

"Ok, ok, you got me, that was a good run. Heh. Don't suppose you could let me go now?" He asked in a joking manner.

The agents held his ankles and wrists, locking them together with handcuffs, they slowly dragged him back along the pavement towards the large black car by the ankles, he lifted his face so as not to scrape his face on the hot pavement.

"Guess not."

* * *

Felia was busy at work in her new office. It was still taking her some time to get used to the cramped conditions. The offices in Germany were so spacious in comparison. This is was like working in a cupboard almost. Boxes left open, draws for metal cabinets pulled out as she had been filing everything in order. The computer system itself was more physical then she'd liked it to be, she'd been too used to the touch screen technology heavily used in Germany.  
Still, the view was nice though, overlooking the rail tracks criss-crossing the Geofront as well as the large pyramid base of NERV.  
She sipped at her coffee, another good thing she had noted as the coffee machine was relatively close by. This was her third one of the day.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by her work phone ringing. She picked it up.

"Yes this is Felia Sohryu. Ah I see. You finally tracked him down. How long did it take you guys? Right. Send him up to me when you're done. Thanks."

Felia put the phone down, slowly standing up and standing by the window, watching the trams in the distance go across the Geofront. Knowing that Ro Sohryu was no doubt on one of them. She smiled and pulled out her mobile phone from her jacket pocket, typing in a number and put the phone to her ear, hearing the ringing tone, waiting for the call to be picked up.  
Sure enough, the phone was soon picked up on the other end.

"Everything's in the clear. Ro's being brought in from his little wander about."

"Good timing too. Mr Kaji found me a nice place to stay in. I'll be ready to move out from tomorrow." The female voice on the other end said. It was the same voice that had warned Ro about the Eighth Angel at the Water Treatment Plant. Mari Illustrious.

"Good. And also one other thing. Please don't bump into any more pilots. It causes a mess I'd rather not deal with right now. Understood?" Felia ordered.

"Yes ma'am. Anything else?" The voice asked.

"That'll be all." Felia said, she promptly ended the mobile call with a push of a button and put it into her pocket.

* * *

Mari fell back onto the old sofa, feeling the old knitted fabric underneath her. She swore for a second that a puff of dust must've shot from the fabric as she landed. The sofa was old after all, maybe about thirty years or so given the smell. The room she had been provided was a secret one, hidden behind a fake wall in some unknown building.  
It had a small shower with a separate room for the toilet and sink, no bathtub however. The room did have something that resembled a kitchen, a small inlet that had a cooker and oven, not much else on that front. The room sadly didn't even have the luxury of a bed, just the sofa to account for something to rest and sleep on, the walls had four dim orange lights that flickered, obviously needed replacing at some point and finally a large wooden cupboard that she could easily fit in several times over.

She looked up at the ceiling, it had that horrible, aged and orange tinge to it, peeling in some places. The embellished crown moulding where the wall met the ceiling was showing clear signs of aging as the moulding could be seen worn down to the core in some places, the covering of paint slowly peeling off bit by bit.  
The walls themselves had that horrible puke green colouration for peeling wallpaper. But the colour did remind her a tad of the Provisional Unit-05 she had piloted before.

And entertainment was at a minimum at best. On a small table in front of the sofa was a radio tuned in to a specific station, giving off NERV broadcasts. Mari stretched her legs up and quickly used her forward momentum to stand up, she reached for the small sports bag nearby that Kaji had given her, reaching in and pulling out a plug suit. It had a different design to her original one. This plug suit was predominantly coloured pink, with 05 engraved on the chest. She smiled softly, remembering the hastily put together Unit-05 and her first and only battle within its entry plug. She noticed a small card inside and she pulled it out, reading it. It was from Kaji. She smiled and twirled, ending with her falling back onto the sofa, reading the card with her new plug suit draped across her body.

* * *

Ro winced as the light shone brightly above his head. That had been the only thing that had actually hurt him throughout this whole process. He hadn't been beaten or interrogated. So at least that was a good thing. He saw a door ahead of him open, blinding light flashed in and a silhouette stood before him, stepping into the room with the sound of heels.

As the door closed, he saw Misato Katsuragi sit in front of him. Setting her jacket and equipment onto the table at her side. He took notice of the pistol in the holster.

"I'd appreciate it if you could tell me what's going on Misato. Aren't we suppose to be best buddies?" Ro asked. His tone was light, but that was to try and ease the tension.

Misato looked at him for a bit, before pulling out a folder and opening it, staring at its contents.

"I need to know how your able to activate the Evangelion outside NERV's assistance. Twice you've been able to do it without trouble." She said sternly.

"Is that was this is about? Sheez, you could've just asked Misato. No need for the suits, and the chase, and the pain I put them through. You do know I ran them ragged right?"

She ignored him and stared at him, her face unmoving.

"Ok, ok. Let me put it to you like this. You know how to hot-wire a car?" He asked as he leaned back.

"How does that answer the question?"

Ro leaned forward, the light baring down on the top of his head. "Because you see, if you know how to hot-wire a car, you'd know that it involves cutting and connecting wires in order to bypass the ignition key. Now if you take that principle and apply it to the Evangelion's on board computer. Then you can hot-wire a Eva quite easily."

"And how did you acquire this knowledge?" Misato asked.

"Well when you do the course in advanced training at IPEA. You get taught not just on how to pilot an Evangelion, but on how to maintain it and to keep it operational by yourself. You learn the ins and outs of the Evangelion, both in software and hardware. The only reason the MAGI are needed is more for computational power and pilot status then to actually move the damn thing." Ro explained. "So are we done?"

"Not quite. I think Felia would like to have a word with you. Something that will keep you busy." Misato said.

* * *

"Why the hell do I have to go to some stupid Junior High School?! I already know far more than the average student there!" Ro exclaimed. Showing his clear distain for such a move.

He had been escorted to Felia's office after his little discussion with Misato at NERV. Mountains of paperwork were still stacked around the place as the filing draws were still left open, stuffed half full as Felia had been organizing her paper work in bits and pieces. Coffee cups had filled her bin by the time he'd arrived. She sat in her office chair drinking her fresh coffee when Ro had entered. The security guards stayed outside.

"Why? Because it's called being sociable. The other pilots go to the school to not only learn, but to have something of a normal life, a normal education." Felia pointed out to him.

"It's pointless if you ask me." Ro said, crossing his arms and looking down at Felia.

"And what would you rather be doing? Doing your yoga alone with no-one to talk to?" Felia asked him as she sipped her coffee.

"It's called Tai Chi. And I take my personal health seriously." Ro said defensively, crossed his arms.

"And being sociable improves your mental health. So take that seriously. You're going to the school. End of story." Felia said.

As Ro was about to protest, Felia chucked a large pile of school uniforms into his arms, he instinctively caught them. Steadying himself to stop himself from falling over.

"They are all in your size, your starting tomorrow." She ordered.

Ro grumbled as he slowly walked out, carrying his new uniform in his arms.

* * *

The empty corridors of Gotenba base were filled with the sounds of grunting and impacts on leather. The evening shift had been cut down to a mere skeleton crew to keep things running.

Felia walked down the corridor, getting closer to the sound until she eventually came upon the gym. Seeing Ro punching and kicking at a punching bag as it swung on its chain. His hands and wrists were bandaged. Similarly were his ankles, striking the punching bag with a kick from either the left or right foot amongst the punches that were at gut or head height in respective of Ro's own height.

She watched him for a couple of minutes, leaning against the door frame and letting him work out his frustrations on the bag. He finally took a breather and put his hands on his knees, noticing her shadow from the corridor. He put a hand up to say hi. Unable to say much as he sucked in air.  
She stood up from the door frame and stepped in, letting the door close behind her, she approached Ro as he stood up. Sweat was running down his forehead.

"Sorry about being harsh with you earlier." Felia said.

"No problem. All's forgiven already." Ro said, huffing and puffing as he calmed down from his workout.

"Really?" Felia asked inquisitively.

"Yeah. Already gotten the frustration from that sorted out. Besides, I've been taking my frustration out on something far more worthy of being hit." Ro said as he undid the bandages on his hands.

Felia noticed that the punching bag had a piece of paper stuck on it from head height. She stepped to Ro's side and saw the image of Gendo's face on there, the paper worn, torn and beaten from the repeated punches Ro had given it. She gave a small chuckle.

"That isn't very nice you know." She said.

Ro shrugged his shoulders. "I couldn't find a picture of an Angel because of how classified they are, so I had to make due." He said.

"Just take it easy ok? Its nine in the evening." Felia said, noting the time on the clock on the wall.

"Yeah. I will sis." Ro said, packing up his clothes into a small bag. "Thanks for checking up on me."

Felia walked off back to the doorway. She looked over her shoulder as Ro started on his cool-down workout. Stretching out his muscles and keeping himself limber. Not wanting to have his muscles get cold and lock up.

"Good night Ro, see you after school tomorrow." She said as the door closed. Leaving Ro to his own devices.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 02:**

**Part 2: Memories stay**

The toaster hummed and the wires inside glowed red before popping two pieces of toast up as the timer dial hit zero.  
Shinji sat at the table, taking a bite out of the toasted slice of bread as Pen-Pen eagerly swallowed down his fish. Asuka could be heard humming as she took her shower. Misato slowly slid open the door from her bedroom, yawning and getting the sleep out of her eyes as she stumbled about in a half-awake daze in her casual clothes, hair frazzled.

"Good morning Misato." Shinji said.

Misato yawned. "Good morning."

She instantly went to the fridge and got a can of beer out, opening it as she sat down at the table. Gulping it down quickly. The coldness of the alcohol snapping her mind out of dreamland and into reality.

"You know Misato, there isn't anything wrong with having coffee." Shinji said as he picked up his cup and drink from it.

"Well I'm sorry, but I prefer a nice cold beer to wake me up in the morning." Misato said.

Asuka eventually stepped out of the shower in her red towel, she snapped up the last piece of toast from the table and chewed on it.

"Hey! I was gonna have that!" Shinji said.

"Quit your whining. I need to have something to eat for today. And be sure to have my lunch ready ok?" Asuka said as she walked out of the kitchen with the toast between her lips.

Shinji sighed. The daily routine had settled in. Making lunch for school, getting his text books ready and Asuka getting dressed, Misato had what she considered to be a good breakfast of steamed rice and miso soup to go with her alcoholic can of beer.

Finally they were ready to go. The door hissed open as Asuka and Shinji stepped out. But they froze in place when they saw Ro Sohryu standing there in front of them. Clad in the same school uniform as Shinji was, but Ro was wearing a red t-shirt underneath instead.

"Good morning. Don't suppose I can tag along with you two?" Ro asked.

* * *

Ro kept his introductions to the class relatively short. Ro smiled to better ease the tension in the classroom, but to stand in front of all thirty seven people and ANNOUNCE your presence was a little uneasy for him.  
Never the less, he ploughed on through, going through his hello and taking a seat close by to the windows. The old lecturer soon began to ramble however about the topic of the class and Ro's mood slowly shifted from happy to something far less friendly.

Ro huffed. This classroom was boring him already with mindless nonsense and he had only been there for 20 minutes. Yet he was expected to wade through all of this crap for the next 7 and a half hours or so. So much for being sociable, he was being kept up in what felt like a chicken farm. His eyes floated to the outside, seeing the trees and the city around. Thinking back to a more earlier time.

The images was hazy at first, but it soon became clear. Before him lay the body of an old man that had collapsed onto the pavement. Ro was about four or five years old. His eyes went blank as his daydream continued. Flashes of people fighting each other on the streets, regardless of age, driven by hunger and rage. Primal emotions rampant as the streets burned and cries of pain and anger went hand in hand. Painful memories and he was lost among them.

"Mr Sohryu?" An old voice cut in.

Ro blinked and looked up. The classroom had focused its attention on him as he jumped in his seat, looking at the teacher.

"Could you explain to the class about the economic situation the countries outside of Japan were in shortly after the Second Impact. We don't get many foreign students to inform us of this." The old man said. He stood ahead of the class, hardly moving from his stand.

Ro sighed and stood up from his seat slowly. He didn't even pick up his textbook, he already knew the personal situation of the chaos first hand. The political situation was all over the news from years ago and finally the economic situation that had plagued the entire world, not just Japan.  
But he knew he had to say something and he opened his mouth to say his part.

* * *

The loud bell rang out to signal the beginning of lunch. Asuka opened up her Bento box to reveal the fresh food that Shinji had prepared for her earlier that morning, the scrape of a chair filled her ears as she saw Ro moving his chair to sit beside her. He slumped into the chair, leaning in to talk with her.

"So how did you end up sitting with these idiots then? I thought you'd be in college with the studies you took." He said quietly as she ate.

"It's because I can't read the questions very well. I never got to learn all of the Kanji." She replied between mouthfuls.

Ro leaned back into his seat. "Right. You only took the verbal exams."

This sentence annoyed Asuka, her head slowly creaked as she turned to face Ro, chomping down on her food.

"And why the hell do you care?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"Well if you wanted, I could help you out with the answers. I managed to study most of the Kanji since the Evas primarily used the Japanese language set by default."

"I don't need your help. I'm perfectly fine by myself." Asuka huffed as she ate.

"Alright." He stood up and picked up his chair. "Question 15 is 38 by the way." He added before he left.

She watched him go back to his desk before hastily picking up the laptop and booting it up, reading up on Question 15. Her face fumed as she read, Ro had been right about the answer and there was no way to disprove him.

* * *

The data from the battle with the deceased Eighth Angel had started to come in from this morning, confirming the DNA and blood type. It was definitely blue.  
The data from Unit-06 also streamed in on Ritsuko Akagi's screen.  
She sat her coffee down onto her desk. She felt particularly drained from the day's events. Hence the coffee, an attempt to put some life and warmth into her body to keep her going through the hours.  
All around her were columns of ones and zeros streaming across in red neon lighting. From a distance, it was not unlike a swarm of glowing fireflies flying across the walls.

She closed her eyes to relax for just a moment, let the data continue to stream in.

She felt warms arms wrapping around her body, seeping warmth that for a moment she actually enjoyed.

"You've lost a little weight." Came the voice in her ear, smooth and charming.

"Nice try. But I've gained far more then I'd like to admit." She said.

She turned to look at Kaji Ryoji. The man who had his arms around her. Always putting across the art of the the charming man.

"Maybe your just wearing too many clothes." He said smoothly.

"I'd love to show you, but this room is being monitored." Ritsuko said.

Kaji gently put his fingers on her jaw and lifted her face up a little, looking into her eyes.

"Was being monitored. I replaced the main security feed with a loop." Kaji said.

"Thoroughly prepared as always." She chuckled.

"Hey, when I play, I play to win."

"But you've already lost. You should've covered the windows as well, considering that scary face there." Ritsuko said, looking at the windows ahead of her.

Before to the two of them stood Misato, her face red with rage as she pressed against the window. Steam blowing out of her nostrils and fogging up the glass before she stormed towards the door. Kaji finally let Ritsuko go and stood by her side.

"It's been quite a while Kaji." Rtisuko said.

"It's been a while alright. Far too long."

The door opened and Misato stormed in, jacket held in her arm.

"What the hell are you still doing here? I thought you was assigned to Euro after things with Asuka had been settled!" She spat.

"I got a special assignment at Headquarters, so I'll be staying here for a while longer it seems. Which means the three of us can hang out just like old times."

"Who the hell wants to relive the past! And I'm here to see Ritsuko, not you! Asuka's been given the all-clear by HR and Ro is pending. Bye!" Misato said, stomping off quickly out of the office.

"Oh my, that was blatant jealously." Ristuko said, turning towards Kaji and look up at him. "I'd say you still have a shot."

Kaji shrugged his shoulders. "Think so? Guess we'll see."

* * *

The elevator doors opened on Felia, she saw Misato stepping in, red jacket slung over her arm, still fuming over something, but she was tempering herself, trying to calm herself down. She stood to Felia's right.

"Good Afternoon Misato. I trust you've had a good day so far?" Felia asked in the most polite manner she could.

Misato saw her smile, but didn't quite return. Her face remained sour.

"You heading up?" Misato asked.

Felia nodded with a smile and pressed on a floor number to the side of the elevator door. The doors closed on the two women and the elevator jolted slightly as it began its journey. The floor ticker slowly moving and ticking as it ascended.

"So, how did your little chat with Ro go last night? Did you two finally catch up?" Felia asked in that polite tone of hers.

"In a way." Misato said blankly, still restraining herself.

"That's good. I know he's caused you a bit of trouble lately. But I'm sure things will clear up soon."

It was at this point that Felia noticed that Misato's hand was clenched tightly and shaking. She was trying to keep herself calm. But it couldn't last for much longer.

"Clear up soon? Just what the hell are you playing at Felia? This isn't a game and you damn well know that you don't know half of what we do here at NERV. So who the hell gave you the right to bring in an undisciplined child!" Misato spat, the tone of hostility unrestrained.

Felia kept her cool. For the most part. But she calmly answered. "That's where your wrong Misato. Ro knows how to handle himself and others if they ever got out of line. The IPEA knows that NERV's Units can be unstable, something the IPEA has managed to overcome. And when it comes to knowledge, I know a heck of a lot more about NERV operations than you do Colonel."

Misato brought her right hand back and flung it forward at Felia's head.

But the hand stopped in mid-air as Felia's hand held her at the wrist with a firm grip. Misato's eyes widened in shock as Felia's expression suddenly turned stern, the innocence in her eyes were gone. This wasn't the kind Felia she had seen or known before. The stern expression slowly shifting into a darker mood.

"Misato. Listen." Felia said sternly.

"Ro is here to keep things in check with the pilots. As well as making sure the Angels are defeated. If you can tolerate how Ro acts, you'll find he's a good pilot that wants to defeat the Angels like you. Striking someone higher than you won't solve this Misato. Get over it."

Felia threw Misato's hand down and slowly adjusted her own red hair. Straightening it out as well as her suit. Making herself look presentable.

Felia lifted her head and took a deep breath in, slowly breathing out through her mouth. Her eyes remained closed until the elevator let off a DING and opened the doors. Felia opened her eyes, that innocent look was back as she stepped out.

"Oh and give Dr Akagi my regards." Felia said, looking back at Misato with a smile and a wave.

Misato stood in the elevator, gently holding her wrist in shock as the doors eventually closed on her.

* * *

Ro came up to Shinji's side as he walked around the school campus. They soon approached the top of a set of escalators that bordered on the edge of the school grounds.

"Hey Shinji, where is the First Child? I don't think I ever got introduced." Ro said.

"Oh Rei Ayanami, she's down there." Shinji said, motioning to Rei who was sitting at a bench at the bottom of the escalator.

"Right, blue hair, how the hell can I have missed that?" Ro said.

"By repeatedly banging your head against the desk a lot?" Shinji said as a joke.

"That obvious huh?" Ro said with a raised eyebrow. "Well I better introduce myself to Rei Ayanami then." Ro said, he sighed and stepped onto the escalator heading down.

As Ro approached Rei, he stopped and blinked as he looked at Rei, she seemed to be oddly familiar to him somehow, but he couldn't quite place it. She sat there reading a text book. Paying very little attention to the world around her. Ro spoke up to get her attention. He had to find out something.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Ro asked.

"No." Rei answered quietly. She resumed reading her text book, hardly giving him a glance.

"Oh right, I probably just skimmed over your file at some point or something." Ro said, scratching his head. He was sure he had seen her before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Well I'm Ro Sohryu, pleasant to finally make your acquaintance Rei Ayanami." Ro said putting his hand out for a hand shake.

Rei looked down at his hand before standing up and bowing in the traditional Japanese manner. "Pleasure to meet you as well." She said before putting her book away and turning around, walking away from him, leaving Ro somewhat dumbfounded by her actions.

"Hey!" Ro exclaimed, briskly walking in front of Rei, turning back and stopping her. "You know, that is kind of offensive to not shake hands."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Rei said in her quiet voice. Her expression still hadn't changed.

"Well lets shake on it then. For better understanding." Ro said, putting his right hand forward and taking hold of Rei's right wrist with his left hand, putting the two hands together and shaking it gently.

"There we go. That is a handshake."

Rei looked down at the joined hands with confusion. This had obviously been the first time she'd even shaken hands with anyone.  
Before she should say anything however, the bells rang out for the next class to start. She quietly followed Ro and the other children to class.

* * *

The class settled as the next teacher came in to discuss the topic of putrefaction from fish. Ro's eyes closed half way and he groaned. The monotonous tone of the teacher's voice was like fingernails grating on a chalkboard. Droning on to the point of madness. Eventually Ro's upper body leaned forward and his forehead bumped onto the desk with a quiet thud. This was not a good day at all.

Two more hours. Two more boring hours of this useless crap. He mathematically counted it in his head. Two hours. A hundred and twenty minutes. Seven thousand and two hundred seconds. Each second passed by ever so slowly. He felt his muscles start to lock up from not moving so much. This is what he hated about school. The stillness of simply taking in information, the useless amount of droning words making learning useless.  
Everyone who knows how education is meant to be taught agrees on the same principle. That experience is the best teacher. And to experience, to interact, to do the learning is to fully realise what it is telling you. Rather than be an information sink.

This school was outdated. The teaching methods draconian, the equipment was thirty years old, smelt like it as well. The wood of the tables that had seen and heard more life slip away and worst of all... Ro was stuck in the middle of this class with morons that didn't know better. Didn't know what he knew. If they knew half of what he knew. They'd be teaching this class instead of the teacher.

But no. Ro has to sit there, head on desk, ears filled with garbled noise that was coming out of the teacher's mouth and all he could do was just sit there and take it.

This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

High above the earth a lone spacecraft floated silently towards the moon, gliding effortlessly on a pre-selected flight plan. Fuyutsuki peered out of the window and saw the remains of Antarctica, a large doughnut of mixed colours like a rainbow covered what was once clear white ice, like a swirling storm of death and destruction with a dark hole in the center, it was almost like an eye looking out of the world.

"It's hard to accept that that's our Mother Earth. It breaks my heart to see it in such a state." Fuyutsuki said, an empty packet of a drink floated by him as he spoke.

"Yet there are those among our species that would welcome this outcome. To see the extinction of the human race to purge the world of the original sin." Gendo said calmly.

Both of them sat on opposite sides of the plane. Fuyutsuki staring at the world on the right side, Gendo staring at the cold moon that shone on the left side. Watching the red streak across the moon.

"I prefer the living chaos of man. It shows that there is still life on the world despite all of the barren wastelands of death." Fuyutsuki said.

"Man follows his own rules of what is harmony and disorder and tries to make the world conform to his vision. Yet men's hearts are filled with chaos that can easily ruin everything it sees."

Fuyutsuki turned to Gendo. "You're saying that it's man's heart that plunges our world into chaos and confusion?" He asked.

"Yes. Men can wind themselves into such a Gordian Knot that it sometimes requires a sword to cut it."

"Mein gott! That was so BORING!" Ro cried out, stretching his arms out, his muscles clicked loudly as he moved and stretched his body.

"Well don't tell me. It's not my fault." Shinji said, turning back to look at Ro who started to stretch his leg muscles on the moving Travelator that all four pilots had been standing on.

"Ugh, and that teacher is really stupid. History or politics as a career? No thanks, I'm more a military man myself." Ro said as he stood up.

"Yeah, the stupid teacher even believed all of that disinformation about the Second Impact." Asuka added.

"What are you talking about?" Shinji asked.

"Wait? They never told you?" Asuka asked.

"About what?" Shinji asked with a blank look on his face.

"What are you? Stupid? The truth about the Second Impact of course." Asuka said.

"Well the history books say it was a meteorite right?" Shinji said, scratching his cheek .

Ro crossed his arms and turned to Asuka and smiled. "Shall you educate him or shall I?"

"Why the hell do I have to teach him? You're a guy. You speak male. You do it." Asuka argued.

"He's your idiot, you need to teach your roommate a thing or two about the world." Ro argued back.

"Fine." Asuka huffed, she stepped forward. "Fifteen years ago, an object, termed the first "Angel" was found in Antarctica. However, there was an explosion of unknown origin that melted the ice caps and that was the real Second Impact." She explained.

"So for us Eva pilots, our job, or rather, our duty you could say, is the prevent the other Angels from performing a Third impact and finishing off Humanity." Ro added in.

Suddenly the power cut out, sending the four Eva pilots to the floor as the Travelator stopped suddenly.

"What the hell was that?" Shinji asked.

Ro picked himself up. "Trouble." He answered.

* * *

End

A notice to all readers:

Every chapter will be released every 1-2 weeks. These chapters are made to feel like an episode of the anime and are released to that time constraint. So come back on either the 5th or 12th of October 2014 for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion!


	3. Chapter 3

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 03:**

**Part 1: Total black out**

Suddenly the power cut out, sending the four Eva pilots to the floor as the Travelator stopped suddenly. The lights had gone out as well. The only things illuminated were from the late afternoon sunrays shining down through the windows above.

"What the hell was that?" Shinji asked.

Ro picked himself up. "Trouble." He answered.

The four children picked themselves up from the metal walkway, dusting themselves off and picking up any items that dropped. Ro picked up his phone, looking at the display. Four bars, maximum signal.

"Well, we can rule out EMP. Mobile is still working." He muttered.

"What the heck is an EMP?" Shinji asked, looking at the phone.

"It's an acronym for Electromagnetic Pulse. It's a blast that will fry every electrical system within its radius. But since the mobile is working. The only cause I can think of for the sudden power outage for everything is..."

* * *

"Sabotage?" Maya asked.

"It would appear so. This Geo-Front was designed to be a self-sufficient colony, it's supposed to operate even when isolated from the outside." Ritsuko said, her hand holding her chin. Pondering the situation.

"Theoretically, it's impossible for all of the power sources: The Primary, Auxiliary and Reserve to fail not concurrently, but simultaneously."

The sound of metal clinking filled the air of the darkened Command Center, followed by panted breaths of effort. Eventually from one of the ladders came a dash of red hair and Felia's head popped up. Flashlights aiming at her face. She shielded her eyes for a second before the beams of light were moved from her eyes.

"Glad to see things are still running here somewhat. Was in the middle of a call with the Commander when the power cut out."

Felia clambered over the side and brushed herself off, her jacket dusty in several parts. Joining Dr Akagi and the three NERV technicians at the main consoles for the Command Center.

"Excuse me? Ma'am?" Maya asked innocently.

"Yes?" Felia said, looking up at Maya.

"Your jacket is torn." Maya pointed to Felia's left arm, the sleeve had been sliced open, exposed the white shirt underneath.

"Verdammt! This was a new suit too!" Felia cursed. "Those old access shafts are nasty!"

"This place was built years ago, and hastily constructed in order to combat the Angels." Ritsuko explained.

"Well I'll raise it in the next budget meeting. Update the access shafts to be more safer." Felia said with a sigh, still examining her jacket. "Speaking of which. What's the situation up here?"

"Power is dead on all fronts. Communications are down. And most of the older systems starting from numbers #2567 are barely keeping life support up and running. We're currently at 1.2% of total power." Ritsuko explained.

"Alright. Divert what power you can to the MAGI and Central Dogma, we need to keep them maintained. In the mean time I'll contact the pilots and see what's happening with them." Felia ordered.

"And if it's an Angel?" Ritsuko asked.

"Then we'll focus on getting the Evas ready for the pilots." Felia said.

"What about Colonel Katsuragi?" Maya asked.

"Misato? She was in the elevator last I knew. Probably caught up in something." Felia said, shrugging her shoulders.

* * *

Misato banged on the door several times with her fists. Trying to get someone's attention. Kaji stood at the back of the elevator, trying to stay cool from the lack of air conditioning.

"You better calm yourself Misato. We're really stuck in here for now." Kaji said calmly.

Misato gave up banging on the door, her hands starting to hurt. She stepped back, leaning against the back wall of the elevator with a loud sigh.

"Why did I have to get stuck in here with you at a time like this?" She asked in a huff.

"Well, with no phone, no lights and no air conditioning, it's almost like fate wanted us to be together in the darkness." Kaji said with a smile.

"Don't try to put the moves on me like you did with Ritsuko earlier."

Kaji leaned his head back, resting it on the wall as he looked up. "I'm not. I've realised that the time we spent together was some of the most happy and bright moments of my life. But those days are over now and I don't regret a day of it."

Misato looked at Kaji for a while before looking away, zipping up her jacket and folding her arms.

* * *

Ro's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. It was Felia. He flipped the phone open and answered it, putting on speaker.

"Hey sis! What's happening down there?"

The group stopped as Ro spoke, looking in his direction as he held the phone out.

"The power's all out down here. We're stuck in the dark. Where are you right now?"

"I'm with the other pilots. We're topside at the moment." He replied.

"That's good, see if you can make your way down here. We're organizing ourselves to sort out the power while some of us are heading to the cages. Meet us at the cages." Felia said.

"Will do Sis." Ro said.

* * *

Felia ended the call and put her mobile away. "Alright. The pilots are on their way down."

"But with no power, how are we gonna power the Evas in case something goes wrong?" Ritsuko asked.

"That isn't such a problem. The inventory of this place states that there are old diesel generators that we can use for getting the Units ready. Unit-06 also has a prototype power supply that the IPEA and NERV have been jointly developing. It's supposed to be for an unlimited duration. But this prototype only manages to last for eight hours before it needs a recharge. It'll work on powering NERV's systems for a while until things are restored to normal." Felia answered.

Ritsuko turned to face Felia. Her expression was stern. "Wait. This new power supply your talking about, you're saying you've already managed to realise the concept of an actual S2 engine and got a prototype of it running already?"

"We do indeed, but Unit-06 only relies on it for emergencies only. We haven't fully implemented it yet. Too many design problems with the power regulation systems at the moment." Felia explained.

This did not settle Ritsuko however. "But that engine was just theory. How can you possibly construct and authorise its use?"

"NERV may be heavily hindered by finances for its research and the IPEA is in as much financial stress. The cost of building Evangelions, let alone distributing them to the various countries around the world takes alot of the IPEA's budget. As such, the research of better units prompted us to find it from existing sources of information to cut costs."

"Your just using the research we've gained here. You're not really developing anything are you?" Ritsuko spat.

"Science and technology have always been stepping stones. Everything overlaps each other. Nothing would ever be made if everyone was try and make something original each time. Everything is based upon everything. NERV may have started Project E, but other companies like the IPEA further that Project in different directions. Mostly for the better."

"Mostly you say." Ritsuko said.

* * *

"Alright. We got our orders so where do we go?" Ro asked.

"Hold on a minute!" Asuka shouted, stepping into the middle of the group. "Your forgetting that as Captain I'm the ranking officer of this group. So who knows where to go?"

"The quickest route is through Route 07. It's just down the hall." Rei said as she started to walk.

Shinji spoke up. "But if the doors don't work how are we gonna be able to make it down into the Geofront?"

The group followed Rei along the dark corridor. Ro had turned the phone's light on and shone it down the corridor. They eventually came up to a large door marked with R-07 in big red letters. On the side of the door frame was a large circular panel with a metallic handle.

"Oh! We can open the door manually." Shinji said in realisation.

"Well there you go Shinji! This is your department!" Asuka said with a confident smile as she turned to Shinji.

Shinji grabbed the handle, pulling and pushing as the handle rotated around the panel. Grunting with effort as the doors slowly opened apart. Asuka stood in front of the door proudly, while Rei examined her map of NERV. Ro stood beside Rei, shining the light from his phone onto the map, examining it thoroughly.

Shinji grunted as he turned the handle. "Why am I the one doing all of this hard work? Can't you do it?"

"Because you're a male and males do the hard work! Now shut up and open this door!" Asuka ordered.

* * *

A few of the workers grunted and groaned, eventually prying the door open and collapsed into a heap of bodies as it sprung open at the last moment.

Ritsuko, Maya and Felia all walked through the open door with Huyga and Aoba in tow. Maya checking the readout from her laptop. Illuminating Maya and Felia's faces.

"So if an Angel did attack, what's our readiness like?" Felia asked.

"Unit-00 suffered a bit more damage from the fall with the last Angel attack. The shock of the impact with Unit-01 and rubble damaged the internal systems far more than originally suspected. Unit-01 only took minimal damage from the fall with Unit-02 receiving none. Unit-06 was in the decontamination chamber to get rid of the blood from the Angel." Ritsuko explained.

The display on Maya's laptop showed the latest reports from Dr Akagi.

Felia leaned over Maya's shoulder as they walked, looking at the display. "I see, which means we may be forced to deploy Unit-06 if things got rough."

Ritsuko turned back, keeping the flashlight pointed ahead. "I wouldn't recommend that given the Vatican Treaty."

Felia looked up at Dr Akagi. "Noted Dr Akagi. But necessity may outweigh any treaty this time, and I have the proper authority to commence its launch, I'll take the heat for the decision if need be."

* * *

Ro shone the light from his phone on the metal bulkhead ahead of him. It was largely melted , the panels having fused together, creating one giant wall.

"Looks melted." Ro turned back to the group. "There's no way we're getting through this. We'll have to go around."

"I agree. We'll have to find a ventilation shaft to traverse further." Rei said quietly.

Ro turned the phone's light off and slide it into his pocket.

"I'll scout out for a vent cover then. Sis, can you check our location and where we need to go?" Ro asked as he stepped up to Asuka's side.

"Why don't you ask Wonder Girl?" Asuka said.

"Cause I trust my sister's sense of direction not to lead us into a dead end." Ro said as he walked down the corridor.

Asuka pulled out her map, looking for where they were.

"Let's see... To the right here" Asuka said, pointing to the junction in the junction.

"The correct course is actually to the left." Rei said as she examined the map.

"Would you not contradict me please? I'm the captain after all. I know how to read a map." Asuka said.

Ro pulled on a vent covering he found, chucking it to one side.

"Found the shortcut!"

* * *

The vent was small and cramped. But it was enough for the four Eva children to comfortably crawl on their hands and knees. Ro lead the group. With Asuka in second, Shinji in third and Rei going last.

Asuka looked over her shoulder as she crawled. "If you dare look up my dress I'll kill you! Do you hear me Shinji?!"

Shinji looked up ahead of him to respond to Asuka. But received a few kicks to the face as Asuka cursed at him in German. Berating him for looking up.

Ro kicked the vent open and looked down, seeing firm ground, he hung onto the edge as he went feet first and then landed on his feet. The commotion was still going on as Shinji protested his innocence.

Ro sighed and called up to the commotion going on in the vent.

"Hey! Quit kissing in that vent and get your butts down here now! Don't make me come up there and drag you two out!"

Eventually the argument spilled out of the vent as Asuka and Shinji fell through another grated vent. Asuka and Shinji fell into a heap on the metal platform that surrounded the Eva. Rei soon landed afterward, landing perfectly in her feet with her hands out to stabilise herself.

"Hey! Looks like you guys finally made it." Felia said as she leaned on the railing.

"Hey sis! How are the Evas?" Ro asked.

"We're just about to start getting them ready."

Asuka and Shinji managed to untangle themselves from the floor, dusting themselves off.

"Ihr idioten!"

Asuka cursed in German as she kicked Shinji in the mid-section, sending him flying into the red liquid that surrounded the Eva Unit.  
Shinji splashed and swam to the platform in a panic. Pulling himself out. The rest of the room sighed at the sight of his coughing, dripping wet from his little swim.

Felia turned to Maya. "So any word from the generator room?"

Maya looked up the schematics on her laptop. "No ma'am. It's on the other side of the facility. Best course from here is to go through the decontamination room."

"Well, that's perfect then." Felia said.

Ritsuko turned to Felia, knowing what she meant. "No. I already said that it would be unwise to launch Unit-06."

"I'm the one that's authorising it Dr Akagi. Your objection is noted." Felia said.

"Ro. You head off to pick up Unit-06. It was still in the decontamination chamber here at NERV. So it should be easy for you to get it up and running. From there, head to the generator room and assess the situation." Felia ordered.

"Right!" Ro said, heading off to the decontamination chamber.

"Asuka, Shinji. You two get suited up. Just in case."

"Roger." They both said in unison.

"And myself?" Rei asked.

"You'll remain here as a back-up. Unit-00 isn't fully functional yet with the damage it's sustained. Sorry." Felia said.

"I understand." Rei said quietly.

"Awww poor Wonder Girl. No deploying while the Commander isn't here." Asuka said.

Rei remained silent. Staring forwards. Not giving Asuka any attention.

* * *

Ro kicked the vent cover open, not caring about the covering clattering to across the metallic platform and hanging on the edge. As he crawled out, he looked around the room. His Eva was standing perfectly still in the middle. The armour was still glistening from the water used in the decontamination process.

"Alright. Looks like your already set to go. I bet you must be itching to get back in action just like I am." Ro said with a smile. He hurried along the metallic platform, clambering up onto the shoulders and getting to the Entry Plug slot on the back of the Eva. Kneeling down by a panel.

"Cool, let's hope they didn't change the pass-code." He muttered to himself.

Ro punched the code into the panel. The text went from red to green. A large panel opened up. Revealing a dark passage way that lead down beside the entry plug.

Ro stepped in and quickly took his seat. A dim light shone in the entry plug, activated by the weight of him sitting in the seat. He had memorised the buttons inside of the entry plug by feel and location alone. He pressed on a few buttons at the handles of the controls and the Unit hummed, various status screens appeared around Ro's head. Showing the power levels at 75% with the mode set to standby. He swiped his fingers across the words "Standby Mode", turning it into "Power Saving Mode".  
The Eva hummed loudly and moved. The neon green eyes shone as the systems were brought the online one by one, Ro typed various access codes in windows as they appeared and finally he was set. He moved the hands of his Unit, checking how they responded and walked forward.

* * *

Shinji slowly opened his locker, taking the bag out and putting it by the bench. Asuka walked by and pulled the curtain down, separating the two halves of the locker room.

"This is the impenetrable wall of Jericho, Third Child!"

"W-What?" Shinji stuttered as he blankly looked at Asuka.

"Take one step past this curtain and I will personally kill you!"

And with that statement of imminent death, Asuka slammed the curtain down, closing off her section of the locker room.  
Shinji slowly opened his locker and gave the occasional glance to Asuka, seeing just the silhouette from the flashlight on the other side of the curtain, watching her getting undressed from her school uniform and throwing her plug suit onto the bench.

"Hey Asuka?" Shinji asked.

"What now Third Child?" Asuka exclaimed, stamping her foot as she asked. The silhouette showing her standing proudly with her hands on her hips.

"Well, I wanted to ask. Why are we fighting Angels anyway?" He asked as he undressed from his school uniform.

"What are you? Stupid? They attacked us first, when someone is attacking you, you can't just sit there and do nothing about it, right?"

"Yeah."

Asuka finished getting dressed, clicking on the button on the wrist, the vacuum process taking out all of the air with a loud hiss and making the plug suit conform to her body's contours. She grabbed the edge of the curtain and pulled it sharply, Shinji's eyes were blinded from the flashlight.

* * *

Ro shone that flashlight on the generators, seeing the various mechanical parts melted down into a hard metallic goop. He looked at the power cables, seeing them in a similar melted states at various points. He called up a phone screen with his fingers inside the entry plug. Pressing on the call button to Felia's phone.

Felia answered. "Ro. What's the news on the generators?"

"Well to put it simply. Do you remember that movie about the alien that had acid for blood?" He asked.

"Your far too young to have watched that movie Ro."

"Good thing I did. Cause I'm looking at a serious case of acid burns on the power cables."

Ro pointed the flashlight on the gun and followed the cables.

"Whatever burned through the cables left a trail in its wake. It's been burning through the cables in certain sections to cut the power to everywhere, even from the emergency generators."

"That doesn't sound natural, follow it and keep me updated. We're gonna get the Evas ready. Just to be sure." Felia ordered.

"Roger."

Ro kept the flashlight on the cables, slowly walking the Evangelion along the tunnel.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 03:**

**Part 2: Dei latet in tenebris.**

The large doors released, but only a small gap was made, it was big enough for Ro to get the Eva's fingers through the gap and take hold, pulling the doors open with both hands. When there was enough space, Ro turned on the flashlight attached to the Eva-sized AA12, pointing it into the room.  
He slowly stepped the Eva in. He'd landed at the launch bay where the Eva's could be launched to the various access points to the Geofront. He turned the Eva as he heard a clattering sound behind him.  
Nothing.  
Ro used his fingers to bring up the motion tracking software the unit had. It wasn't much and it was limited, only capable of telling about movement that was in plain sight front of him. But that was sufficient for him.  
He slowly turned the Eva around and a small creature jumped at the view screen, red eyes blazing and letting out a shrill shriek.  
Ro let out a sudden cry of surprise and jumped back into his seat. Unit-06 also jumped back, falling backwards through the open doorway as the creature ran off to some other section of the base.  
Ro took a section to catch his breath before he turned the Eva onto its front and stood it up slowly and heading off at a jogging pace to catch up.

* * *

Felia cradled a cup in her hands as she rested against the railing, she looked down at Rei leaning against the wall as the technicians groaned, pulling on cables to get the entry plugs for the Evas ready. The news of a potential Angel had motivated the crew somewhat. But they were still getting tired. Ritsuko oversaw Maya working on the laptop. Prepping the systems of the Evas.

"You know, I kinda feel bad about Rei, must really hate being stuck like the fifth wheel." Felia said.

"Rei's used to it. She does as she's told to do." Ritsuko said.

"You'd think she'd show more initiative to do something at least." Felia said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Well since you've been giving orders, I'll leave that up to you." Ritsuko said.

Felia stood up from the railing and walked down the platform to where Rei was standing.

"Rei?"

"Yes ma'am?" Rei said. Standing up to look at Felia.

"Why not go and make some tea or coffee or something? There must be a vending machine somewhere you can get a few supplies from. These guys need to drink and eat something after all. Don't want them too tired when we need it."

"Yes ma'am." Rei said. Bowing before exiting the cage.

* * *

Ro turned the corner and saw the creature in the middle of the corridor, looking at him.

Ro took a slow couple of steps and pointed his weapon at the creature, shining the flashlight on it. It remained in its place. Shielding its vision from his flashlight. Ro could clearly see the mask of an Angel, eyes shining red within the dark eye sockets. The body was a dark tattered mess, hunched in all fours like a rat.

Ro took another step, looking for an identifiable core to shoot. The small creature shrieked and a few drops dripped from the ceiling onto the main body of his gun. Ro raised an eyebrow and slowly looked up, his Evangelion followed the movement of his head, pointing the gun up as well to get a good look.

Above him was a spider like creature inside a circular crevice that showed clear burn marks and melted metal. Much like the acid he'd been tracking. As the light passed over the creature, a large set of teeth opened. Showing rows and rows of teeth inside of its mouth. Ro's eyes widened and he quickly took a few steps back, slamming the back of the Eva into the wall.  
The large creature jumped down with a loud boom, the weight impacting the metal corridor, it turned to him and began baring its teeth again at him. The small creature scuttled along one of the legs and jumped onto the body. Ro saw the flesh of the larger creature shift and show thousands of masks. Red eyes glowing. Like thousands of eyes on a spider.

The small creature's body shifted and merged with the larger creature, melting among the rest. The large creature roared again. This time a red core could be seen at the back of its mouth.  
It was clearly an Angel.  
Ro hastily raised his gun and pulled on the trigger. The gun clicked, but it didn't fire. Ro brought the gun up. Seeing that the liquid drops had melted through the metal of the AA12.  
The Angel scuttled towards him as he was distracted. Ro yelled as he rolled to the side, the Angel slamming into the wall.  
Ro wasted no time in hastily retreating down the corridor, the Angel snapping its jaws behind him. He hastily called Felia's mobile.

"Felia! You there?!"

"I'm here. What's the situation?"

"Confirm on Angel! Repeat! Confirm on Angel! Get the Evas ready now!" Ro shouted as he ran his Eva down the corridor.

"We'll need a few moments more, can you slow it down?!"

Ro saw that he was running through a series of bulkhead thresholds. Emergency handles covered in glass lined the wall, he moved his hand out, breaking the glass and pulled it down. The lights in the corridor flashed red, a loud klaxon sounded and the bulkhead slammed shut as the physical mechanism in the walls closed it tight. The bulkhead bulged as the Angel slammed into it. Along with screams and the sound of metal being melted. Ro moved to the next bulkhead. Do the same thing. He eventually stopped after the sixth one closed.

"Felia. You got a couple of minutes."

* * *

Felia slid her shoulders out of her jacket, taking it off, revealing the white buttoned shirt underneath. She picked up a couple of dirty white gloves from the side, putting them on as she walked up to the techs and grabbed one of the cables. Grunting and pulling as well. A loud clang rang out in the darkness of the cage as the Entry plug was inserted into the Plug Socket.

Felia and the techs took a break with an audible sigh, Felia wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Give us an update!" She called.

"Interior set in Unit-01 and Unit-02!" Said one technician.

"Diesel generator is good to go!" Said another.

"Start the motor!" Felia ordered.

The entry plugs slowly turned and entered into the Eva Units. The covering closed up to seal the Entry Plugs.

"Plugs inserted!"

"Eva Unit-01 and Unit-02 activated using backup power supply."

"Alright. Sever the primary hydraulic locks!" Felia shouted to the technicians.

The technicians chopped at the hydraulic cables with fire axes. A dark liquid spurted out as they were cut. The cylinders that held the Evas in place turned and pulled away. Releasing them. Out of the darkness the technicians kept shouting out the status of things.

"Hydraulic locks numbers 2 through 32 have been released!"

"Zero pressure!"

"Unit-01 and Unit-02 are ready Felia. They are good to go on your say." Ritsuko said.

"Understood. Unit-01! Unit-02! Remove the rest of the restraints and commence launch!" Felia ordered.

* * *

Things had gotten quiet. No metal bending. No Angel scream. Just silence. Ro checked around the bulkhead. Things were quiet. The motion tracking software in the Entry Plug still showed movement. But it was slowly and showed several signatures. He turned and saw large cargo containers. He quickly stacked a few and stood on top of them.

Ro slowly put Unit-06's left hand on the grating, moving it up. The space was too small for the AA12 to be effectively used, but the pistol was small enough to fit, as well as have the added benefit of having a small flashlight already attached, he pointed the barrel of the weapon the end of the vent above.

Above the bulkheads in the vent, climbing along the pipes, were several masked creatures with glowing red eyes, matching the one he'd come across earlier. The Angel had split into different parts to get around the bulkheads.

Ro's eyes went wide with shock, he quickly ducked, the grating loudly coming down, in his panic to scramble, the Eva fell off the make-shift platform he'd been standing on, he fumbled for a second before pointing the pistol up at the ceiling and firing into it, massive bullet cartridges blasting through the metallic ceiling, making a few of the creatures drop either from being hit or surprised from the sudden amount of large noise the weapon made.

Ro quickly stopped firing and backed up, noting the final bulkhead threshold he'd just gone through, he hastily stood the Eva up and smashed open a glass covering yanked it down. The sound of shrill Angel screams and impacts from the creatures were muffled by the large bulkhead. It was gonna take time to form and break through.

Ro turned and ran for the cages, fingers going to the holographic display to call Felia.

* * *

The mobile buzzed and rang loudly in the darkness. Felia let the cable go and patted a tech on the shoulder before she picked up the mobile, sweat and grease had made her white blouse dirty. Behind her the cables were holding the emergency batteries, slowly lowering them down onto the rear side of the shoulder pylons for Unit-02.

"Yes?"

"Felia! Please tell me the Evas are ready now!"

Felia could hear the sounds of the Eva running in the background as Ro asked in a panic.

"We're just finished up getting Unit-02 ready with the emergency batteries." Felia said.

"Good timing. I've got the Angel on my tail." Ro said.

"We'll be ready for you."

She hung the phone up.

"Alright people! There's an Angel on its way. We need to get the Evas ready! Double time!" She called out.

* * *

Ro shoulder barged into the doorway, falling with the doors as they fell onto the floor, he scrambled and ran towards Unit-01 and Unit-02, both units held a Pallet rifle.

Behind him the spider like Angel slammed into the doorway, opening it's jaws to let lose a loud roar. Revealing the many sets of teeth it had. The red core shone at the back of its mouth.  
Ro ran his Eva Unit into a hip slide between the two Evas.

"Shoot!"

Both Pallet rifles fired on the Angel. The AT-Field put up a fair bit of resistance to the bullets, but the amount of bullets coming eventually punched through in various places. It shrieked loudly and backed off from the oncoming fire.

"It's running away. We need to go after it!" Asuka yelled.

"I'm gonna need a new gun though." Ro said as he held up the partially melted AA12, the front section of the barrel collapsed onto the floor, the acid having worked its way through. "That thing can melt through metal like its nothing."

Felia came up to the railing by the Evas, yelling into a loudspeaker that she had taken from one of the technicians.

"Ro! There's the EM-226 Portable Minigun with over 6000 rounds of 440MM Calibre bullets, it will tear that Angel to shreds. Use that!"

"Right. Time to head out and take this Angel down." Ro said as he stood his Eva up.

* * *

The door to the Evangelion armoury slowly slid open as Ro pulled on the door while Shinji manually turned the manual lock. After it opened Ro stepped in, handing ammunition to Shinji for the pallet rifle before looking for the weapon that Felia mentioned. He found it and picked it up, checking the amount of ammo it carried.

"Alright then Captain Sohryu, what's the plan?" Ro asked as he checked over the minigun, making sure that the firing mechanism was working right.

"It's simple really. The three Eva Units will locate and engage the target before luring it to the main Eva transit hub where all Units will converge. Ambushing the target, neutralising it's AT-Field and destroying the core in a quick and efficient manner to maximize success." Asuka explained.

"Good plan sis. Now I know why they ranked you Captain." Ro said.

* * *

Unit-02's head peeked around the corner, the four green eyes looking for signs of the Angel.

"There's nothing here." Asuka said quitely.

"Nothing here either." Shinji said.

"You looking up at the ceiling like I suggested?" Ro asked.

"Yeah yeah, I am." Asuka replied over the radio.

Ro walked his Eva around the corner, pointing the barrels of the minigun wherever he looked. He was about to say something when he saw a dark shape moving down the corridor ahead of him. Noting the spider like legs. It was the Angel. And he had the drop on it. But he had to stick to the plan.

He pressed the trigger and the barrels spin. Producing a loud whine as they rotated, which in turn made the Angel turn quickly. He let loose a burst of fire at the Angel. The bullets hitting the AT-Field. The Angel roared as it charged down the corridor at him.

He turned his Eva and quickly ran. Heading towards the nearest tunnel that lead to the transit hub as planned. The Angel took time turning in the corners, giving him a couple of seconds to gain a lead before it was back chasing him. Jaws snapping at his rear.

Finally he saw a platform up ahead that was used for transport. The mechanism was powered by a generator on the platform. Meaning power wasn't an issue.  
Ro kicked the large gear shaft with the Eva's foot, turning around to see the Angel navigating the corridor with ease. The platform slowly began to descend along the track heading upwards, slowly gathering pace.  
Ro lifted the Minigun and pressed hard on the firing button. The barrels turned and rotated, quickly spinning faster and faster before the 440MM Calibre bullets started to fly from six rotating barrels. Ro had to steady his grip after the initial recoil sent the weapon flying off target by a few feet. He tightened his grip on the handle, straightening his aim, feeling the shake in his arms from the recoil. Hitting the AT-Field enough to not scare the Angel off, but to anger it enough to keep coming at him down the tunnel.

"Asuka! Shinji! I've got it following me again! Better hurry to the main Eva transit hub!" Ro shouted into his radio as the platform descended at an increasing pace.

"I'm on my way!" Asuka said as she began to hurry her Eva along the corridor.

* * *

"GET! OUT! OF! THE! WAY! SCHNELL!" Asuka screamed out loudly.

Every word screamed by the German redhead was followed by the sound of Unit-02 kicking an access panel. Making the walls vibrate and the panel cave in with every impact until it flew off its hinges and landed on the floor of the transit hub.

The transit hub was a large circular room with a circular platform in the middle the lead down into the Eva cages. Three tracks lined the rim of the platform indicating the main junction where three Evas could be launched from.

Shinji and Unit-01 crawled out of the access panel and joined Asuka's side, readying his Pallet rifle. Now all they had to do was wait on Ro.

The speed of the platform was too fast, Ro pulled on the manual brakes, but even when fully applied the manual brakes failed to slow the platform enough. As the platform hit the ground it flew off the tracks and crashed into the floor of the transit hub, catching Ro off-guard and sending him flying backwards as the platform disintegrated from the impact. The force was such that he lost his grip on his weapon and bounced off the floor, careering into Shinji's Unit-01. Both pilots yelling as they slammed into the opposite wall and then fell into a heap on the floor.

Asuka turned Unit-02's head and looked at them.

Asuka: Ihr Idioten! Let me show you how an elite pilot does it!

The Angel scuttled into the transit hub, teeth gnashing at it came across the three Evas again. Asuka pushed Unit-02 forward with a yell, the progressive knife sliding out of the shoulder pylon.  
Asuka pulled the knife out and lunged on top of the Angel. Driving the knife down towards the core inside of the Angel.  
As the Progressive Knife came down, the body of the Angel shifted and the core moved away, the edge of the knife grazing it as it detached from the body and flew up and above Unit-02.  
Asuka's eyesight tracked the core and she swung again with more determination. However, her Unit-02 fall backwards, it had lost its footing and collapsed onto the floor. She shook her head and looked at the body of the Angel disintegrating into thousands of tiny black pieces underneath her.

The core of the Angel hummed and glowed. She moved her Eva up, yelling out loudly as she raised her hand holding the knife to strike at the core.

The disintegrated pieces moved like a swarm, wrapping around her wrist like a tentacle. Stopping the blade short and flinging her backwards into the wall.

Shinji recovered himself and stood Unit-01 up, seeing Asuka's Eva leaning into the indentation it had made into the wall, he raised his pallet gun and shot at the core. The swarm moved in front of the core, producing thousands of tiny AT-Fields that blocks the bullets. He kept firing as the swarm moved and swayed.

Asuka pulled herself away from the way, charging again. The swarm moved offensively, covering both Evas and pulling them about.

Asuka and Shinji swatted at their Evas, trying to get the swarm of creatures off of them.

Ro ignored the swarm around him and drew out the katana from its sheath, the sharp blade began to hum and glowed as it started to vibrate at a high frequency, lifting the blade up with both hands and yelled as he brought the blade down swiftly.

The blade struck the core dead centre, the spherical object cracked as the blade cut in, cracking as the razor-sharp blade cut through it in one motion, cleaving it in two perfectly.  
The two pieces began to fall to either side of Ro's Eva, electrical sparks joining the two sides of the core before they glowed white.  
The Eva pilots only had a second or two to blink before the two pieces exploded with a violent eruption, going through the layers of the Geofront and coming out into the familiar cross shaped explosion.

Misato slammed on the access panel. It only budged slightly to her fists. Obviously it was physically locked on the outside, but that didn't stop Misato from hitting it in a desperate plea to escape as her bowels moved her through compulsion.

"Oh, damn it! Why won't it open?! Please! I've got to go to the bathroom! Now!" Misato cried as she hit the panel with more desperate determination.

"Hey! You're not looking up my dress are you?" She called down to Kaji, who at this point was standing directly underneath her. Propping her up with his shoulders, his head inches from her skirt. He bowed his head as he sighed.

"No ma'am."

Suddenly the lights came on, both Kaji and Misato looked around as the brightness hit their eyes.  
The elevator then jolted with enough force to send Kaji stumbling. The weight of Misato on top of him caused him to fall in one direction with Misato falling in the other direction. Both adults yelling as they hit the hard elevator floor.

Eventually the lift stopped and the doors finally opened, an exhausted Felia walked in, wiping her brow before noticing the two adults before her in a rather compromising position. Her face slowly contorted into rage as the lift doors closed behind her.

Misato finally entered into Ritsuko's office after a gruelling hour of Felia in the elevator. Ending with her being booted out onto a floor to meet up with Ritsuko and Maya to catch up on the situation.

"Hey. What's the situation?" She asked as she tried to sort out her frazzled hair.

"The power lines were severed physically in twenty seven different locations. We're attributing the damage to those sections from the Angel due to the acid damage along the power lines and its ability to fragment as well. However, in a further ten separate locations, the power was cut by means of a program which fed simulated transmission errors into the switching control subroutine. At present we're back up to 58% power." Maya explained.

Misato leaned over Maya's left shoulder, looking at the data on her laptop. Ritsuko was standing to Maya's right side.

"So your saying that someone used the Angel's attack as a cover to shut off power elsewhere? But for what purpose?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko finished her sip of coffee. "My best guess is that they wanted to watch how we handle ourselves in a crisis situation. You could deduce quite a bit about our layout and priorities from the way our assessment, combat and recovery from an Angel attack is prioritised."

Misato's hand came to her chin. "This is bad..."

"I had the MAGI run a recovery program of all of the software systems affected by the power outage. I doubt they would've gotten anything useful at any rate with the power cut hampering any surveillance." Ritsuko said in a reassuring tone.

Maya finally joined in. "What's bad is that the first real damage to headquarters wasn't done by just an Angel. But one of us as well."

"But... Who exactly?" Misato pondered.

"One of our own, as Lt. Ibuki said." Ritsuko said, putting her coffee mug down.

"'Our own?' You mean within NERV itself? Not even the IPEA would stoop this low." Misato said, almost in disbelief.

Ritsuko looked down at Maya's laptop as she typed away. "We're running checks on all personnel. But I don't think the culprit has gotten very far however. Association can be just as dangerous as insubordination."

Misato walked to Ritsuko's side and put her hand up to cover her mouth from Ibuki. "He was with me when the power went out."

"True. However, that could easily be seen as merely misdirection. There may be more than one enemy here that we're not aware of." Ritsuko said.

Felia walked into an alleyway, she looked around every so often but otherwise kept her head down, her eyes looking ahead, her body covered in a cloak to keep prying eyes away from who she was. Eventually she came across a green lit door and she knocked on it four times. She took a step back and waited for a response.

It was night time, cars and pedestrians past by the alley, oblivious as to what was going on in her little part of the world.  
Soon enough, the door slowly creaked open and she was met with Kaji again.

"Well well, didn't think you'd make it." He said coyly, leaning against the doorway.

"I made it. Is she here?" Felia asked as she stepped forward.

"All yours." Kaji said, standing up and granting her entrance.

As Felia walked in she pulled the hood of the cloak back, Kaji slowly closed the door behind her, checking to make sure no-one was watching. The corridors were filled with smoke and dim lights, but Kaji eventually lead her to a room that seemed like a dead end except for a electrical transformer placed on the wall. Kaji pulled the lever on the side and the whole wall moved, granting her entrance to a secret room. She walked in without so much as a pause.

In the room sat Mari Illustrious, clad in just a bathrobe, sprawled out on the sofa, playing a game with her phone. Her plug suit hung over one of the arms of the sofa. She eventually noticed Felia and stood up instantly. Giving her a salute.

"Mari Illustrious reporting for duty." She said.

Kaji closed the wall behind Felia, coming to her side. "At ease." Felia said.

Mari relaxed and sat down with a sigh.

"Did you get it?" Felia asked.

Mari smiled and put her hand into her plug suit, till the fingers were firmly in the glove, as her hand opened a purple holographic cube appeared.

"As requested. It was buried deep, but I got it." Mari said.

Felia stood closer and leaned down, staring at the cube.

"That's the right one. Good work Mari." She said.

"So what's so important about the cube then? And why would NERV hide it?" Kaji asked. Sitting on a nearby chair.

"It's a Tesseract. Contents unknown. And Mari's goal now is the crack it." Felia said, turning to Mari as she looked at it. "You up for the challenge?"

Mari looked up and smiled at her, closing her gloved hand into a fist, making the holographic cube disperse into thin air.

"Of course I am. I'm the master of unlocking."

**End**

* * *

A notice to all readers:

Every chapter will be released every 1-2 weeks. These chapters are made to feel like an episode of the anime and are released to that time constraint. So come back on either the 12th or 19th of October 2014 for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion!


	4. Chapter 4

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 04:**

**Part 1: Praeteritum**

The year is 2000. Before all of the chaos. Before the Evangelions and the Angels. Before things were set in motion. The Earth was as it always had been. Blue and green. Teeming with life on land, in the sea and the air.

Joining the wildlife in the air. A small aircraft flew over the cold blue water and the white ice cap.

"Misato. Aren't you happy? You get to see your father's work." The pilot said as he drove the plane.

"Yeah I guess."

A young Misato leaned back into her seat, putting her feet forwards. Staring out the window of the plane with her chin in her hand. She looked bored already. Not wanting to have anything to do with what was happening with her father's work. But things hadn't gone her way and she'd been sent to join him on his "expedition".

"He'll probably just ignore me away." Misato said to herself.

* * *

And then it happened. The Second Impact was occurring and she was at ground zero. The Angels rose up and sent their wings flying up into the sky past the clouds. Shattering the world with their cry.

The wind howled and raged on. There wasn't much left standing. Aside from her father. The pain in her chest got worse as the cold tried to settle into her. The warmth of her father as he held her kept her alive and safe.  
The mixture of the cold and heat kept making her fade in and out of conscience and she lost track of time.

He stumbled and walked through the snow for what seemed like an eternity. Carrying her body in his arms. His own clothes tattered and ripped. Blood soaking through from wounds. He finally came upon the rescue area. He struggled to open the last escape pod as the cold settled into him. Putting her inside the pod slowly. He panted over her as blood dripped down onto her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open as she winced in pain and looked up at him as he handed her his pendent.

And then he was gone with a wash of light. The capsule closed on Misato, sealing her in. All she could do was lay there in the darkness as the world crumbled around her. Holding tightly onto the pendent. Praying as the pod rocked and tumbled. Holding onto dear life.

* * *

The year is 2015. The world is recovering. The Angels have appeared and Evangelions are being used to fight them. The waters of the Earth are red like blood and life still endures.

Misato awoke from her slumber. The room was cold and dark except for the light peering in through the blinds on the windows. Pen Pen was asleep beside her, his head buried in her shirt. Her right hand was holding onto yet another bottle of alcohol from the night before. Her limbs splayed out in different directions. She slowly moved up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and took her shirt off, throwing it to the side.  
She fumbled through her drawers and took out a clean matching pair of bra and panties. She discarded the old panties and soon slipped into the new ones. Standing before the mirror. Looking at herself for a moment.

Misato lifted her bra up, locking it together at the front. She stood alone in front of the mirror. Clad in nothing but her bra and panties. A long scar streaked across the bare skin of her torso. A painful reminder of what had happened to her all those years ago. On her desk was the only other reminder. The pendent her father gave to her. Her mind sobered up as she looked at herself. This was reality and she had to deal with it.

* * *

Space was quiet, devoid of life and sound. It was fitting really, since the moon was equally quiet. Bouncing solar rays off its surface. A thick red line streaked across the surface of the moon. Like a blood stain from eons ago.  
Floating precariously close to the surface was a small craft, drifting silently over buildings set up across the streak of red. Solar panels shining bright as they absorbed and reflected the sun's rays. Working to ensure some protection for what lay underneath.  
Gendo and Fuyutsuki peered out of a small window from the small spacecraft. The interior was filled with the sounds of electronics as they surveyed what lay before then. Wearing spacesuits to help protect them as the craft travelled along silently.

"Here we are. Not even a hundred feet above Tabgha Moonbase and yet they still refuse to let us land. SEELE can be nasty when they want to." Fuyutuski noted.

Before the little spacecraft was the large form of a giant. Laying dormant in a large crater. Wrapped in dark bandages and appliances. Armour was being applied to its body in various places. The mask of a new Evangelion Unit was held close by to the figures' head by large cabling.

"Their clearly using a new method of construction for the Mark VI series. Getting to confirm that is enough." Gendo said as he studied the giant.

"I didn't realize that there were to be any plans for construction beyond Unit-08." Fuyutsuki said

Gendo was not phased as he looked on. "For all we know, there are likely still undisclosed Apocrypha of the Dead Sea Scrolls that SEELE intends to use."

"But even SEELE cannot be oblivious to NERV's ultimate goal at this point." Fuyutsuki pointed out in observation.

"Even if they are aware, we cannot allow that to alter the course of our path. Though it may mean acting against the Word of God."

As Gendo finished his sentence, he noted something unusual and looked up.  
Outside in the vacuum of space sat a small figure of the fingertip of the large giant. His skin pale. His hair silver. The solar rays shone down on him.

Fuyutsuki looked surprised at the sight. "A person? Surely not."

The figure turned to the spacecraft, looking into the window with his crimson eyes and a gentle smile.

"Nice to meet you, Father."

* * *

The council of SEELE had been called together again in the darkness of the room. A hologram in the center appeared under the scrutiny of the large monoliths that loomed over it. Watching recordings of the Eighth and Ninth Angels.

"The Ninth Angel has been destroyed."

"Yes, although the Eighth and Ninth were present in the original revision. They were not in the previous one."

"How many more Angels are there that we are not aware of or haven't planned for yet?"

"We must move into action to ensure that this revision does not escape our grasp."

"And what of Ikari? He must be aware of the Mark VI series by now."

"That piece of information is irrelevant to Ikari now. The Human Instrumentality Project cannot be jeopardised because a piece learned some information."

"Indeed. The damage by this leak is an acceptable one. We must proceed more quickly however. Construction of the other Units must be hastened."

"And what of Unit-06?"

"It's development is progressing at the acceptable rate, even with the latest revision. Data is being transferred as we speak."

* * *

**06:00 AM Japan Standard Time**

The distinct quiet that Tokyo-3 mellowed into was loudly interrupted by the sound of engines flying overhead. VTOLs with large cables attached to large packages that carried black gunk from the remains of the melted transit hub. The last few remnants of the Ninth Angel.

Close by the transit hub was Unit-06, slumped over onto one side, armour melted and with its back open and exposed to the open air of Japan like a patient in surgery, a large mechanical engine had been taken from its back and hooked into the power cables the ran into NERV Headquarters. Announcements on the loudspeakers kept everyone in the work area aware of the status of things.

Ro lifted his head from the underside of the engine, a screwdriver between his lips, his mouth full with the taste of metal as he cranked on another part of the engine with a wrench. His body was covered in sweat as he worked, mixing with the dark grease. He was wearing his plug suit up until the waist. The upper half of his plug suit was wrapped around his waist. His white t-shirt had been heavily stained with grease. He finally finished cranking and took a breath before he pulled on a nearby lever on the engine in front of him.  
It hummed as it came to life. Green lights moved along the engine in a circular pattern. Energy whirling within as the cables were charged. Soon the power levels on the readout on the side rose in bars and hit the straight line across the middle and turned green.  
Things were stable.  
Ro raised his arms in triumph. Although no-one around him paid much notice as they were too busy working on their own tasks.  
He took the screwdriver out of his mouth.

"Really? Nobody is happy of my work? I mean, I just turned on the lights and no pat on the back?" Ro asked.

No response came as the technicians were busy working on their assigned tasks. Ro sighed in defeat.  
He felt a hand pat him a couple of times on the back. He turned around and saw Felia standing with him.

"Good job." She said with a smile.

In her other hand was a cup holder that held two drinks. She offered one to Ro and he took a sip if it. Spitting out the drink as the taste hit his mouth.

"Gah! What the hell is this?" Ro spat.

"It's coffee." Felia replied.

"It's disgusting! Didn't they have any tea?" Ro said.

"All out." Felia said, shaking her head.

"Hot chocolate at least?"

"Nope."

"Ugh. I can see why it wakes people up. It tastes horrible." Ro said with a disgusted look on his face.

Felia patted Ro on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it."

"Yeah. Let's hope the Angels aren't getting used to attacking so often. Not sure if we can handle the rotation."

* * *

**06:30 AM Japan Standard Time**

Misato stepped out of the operations vehicle that had parked on-site to where the Angel's remains were. Looking out and pausing for a moment to look at the flying craft overhead. The area surrounding the remains had been sealed off with the usual Biohazard containment procedures to study and extract the Angel remains to parts unknown. She pressed onwards out of the transit hub and stepped over makeshift cables, all the while stepping around busy people that were too enthralled with their work. She came up to a small track that ferried personnel in and out of the facility. She showed her access card and stepped onto a small train car. Letting it ferry her out of the hub and into the cleaner air towards Unit-06.  
As she approached, she saw Felia waving and walking along the train car.

"Hey Misato! Mind if I jump on?" Felia said, jumping into the seat next to her.

"Oh sure." Misato said as Felia sat down.

"Everything is back up and running." Felia said.

"I can't believe the engine actually works." Misato said.

"I know. Unit-06 will out of action until the power cables are fixed. Till then, expect a system reboot every eight hours." Felia said, handing Misato some fresh coffee.

"Thanks. Probably better than just sitting around doing nothing. What's with all the science techs around the engine though?" Misato asked.

"Gathering data for the final prototype version. If what I've been told is true. Unit-04 was selected by the Americans to be the test type for it. Hopefully that'll make upgrading the Evangelions a lot easier once their done."

"Isn't that a little risky, giving them access to that kind of technology?" Misato asked.

"We've got people on the ground overseeing the process Misato. We're keeping a close eye on America. We certainly don't want another incident like Tokyo-1."

"I hear that." Misato said.

"Misato?"

"Yes?"

"Sorry about shouting at you the other day."

"It's alright. You probably did the right thing." Misato said.

* * *

**08:00 AM Japan Standard Time**

The elevator doors opened as Hikari Horaki, the class representative, stepped out. Clad in her school uniform, she stepped to the apartment that Asuka had registered herself at.

She pushed on the call button to the apartment, hearing the electronic tone of the doorbell ring. From inside came a muffled German cry of haste as Asuka hurried to the front door.

"Oh Hikari!" Asuka exclaimed in surprise.

"Hi Asuka! I wanted to come by and check up on you. Especially with the blackouts and such."

Asuka leaned against the doorframe. "Yeah, me and Stupid Shinji got caught up in it. Misato said we should take the day off as a break until things are fixed."

"Well I'm glad you're ok. Do you want to hang out later?" Hikari asked.

"Mmmmm maybe not tonight, we can tomorrow though if you want." Asuka said.

"I'll be glad. I'll drop by tomorrow to see how you're doing." Hikari said with a smile.

"Ok, thanks for dropping by."

Hikari bowed and then walked off, Asuka closed the door to the apartment. She let out a happy sigh and walked through the apartment, seeing the idiot in the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Shinji called out as he was cooking breakfast for everyone.

"That was Hikari, she dropped by for a chat." Asuka answered as she entered the kitchen. She took a step towards the bathroom.

"I'm gonna take a shower. No peeking." She warned.

Shinji turned to Asuka before she opened the curtain. "Umm Asuka?"

"What is it Third Child?" Asuka said in an annoyed tone.

"How come you haven't spoken to your brother or sister since they arrived? Don't you ever call them? I mean, aren't they your family?" Shinji asked.

Asuka paused after opening the curtain to the bathroom. She turned towards the idiot and leaned against the doorway for her response. "For the most part my sister is busy with her work and Ro is just like every other boring male. There's not much to talk about with him."

"Aren't you curious about the training he did?"

"Why should I?" Asuka asked, she put her hand on her chest and spoke confidently. "Excellence comes naturally to an Elite Pilot like myself. I don't need to be trained like a little doggy."

"...that ok with you little NERV doggy?"

The image of the girl handing his SDAT player back to him suddenly came to his mind. But Asuka snapped him back into the moment.

"AAAhhhhhhhh! TOO! HOT!" Came the cry from the bathroom.

Shinji sighed as he turned to finish cooking.

* * *

**09:30 AM Japan Standard Time**

"Verdammt!" Felia cursed as her finger mashed at the buttons on the coffee vendor.

While most of the lights and doors and everything else was powered up. The occasional light flickering and unpowered vendor was still a nagging problem for Felia's convenience. Her hand started to tremble a little as she felt the addictive urge for coffee starting to take over.  
It was a habit she didn't want to kick. It kept her awake, kept her alert. Kept her in control of herself, lest she became a dribbling idiot on the floor.  
And the stupid contraption that was the coffee making machine before her was taunting her with reboot messages and swallowing her money. She growled and kicked the machine in frustration.

"You won't get coffee by hitting the poor little thing. But if you ask nicely..."

Felia turned to see Kaji handing her a can of coffee.

"Weren't you supposed to be in America by now?" Felia asked.

"My plane got cancelled, seems a particular woman wants me to stay and tend to her heart." Kaji said with a smile.

"Bah! As if!"

Felia swiped the can out of Kaji's hand. Opening it and taking a gulp of the coffee. It was bitter, but her body relaxed as the caffeine entered her blood stream. The shaking stopped and she felt a sense of equilibrium return.

"I suppose you think I'm indebted to you now." Felia said to Kaji.

"No, it's my treat to the highest ranking official here. But if you ever wanted anything from me, you know where to find me." Kaji said.

"Sorry Ryoji. But my skirt is invitation only, so you can get your pelvis out of it before I hand it back to you." She warned.

"Can't say I'm not disappointed, but I understand. Enjoy the coffee. Commander." Kaji said as he left.

Felia sipped at the can as she watched Kaji walk off. By all rights he was correct in addressing her with such a title. But it was all bull, a figurehead while Gendo was not present and nothing much else, when the Commander comes back, he would resume command.

But he wasn't back in command yet.

* * *

**10:05 AM Japan Standard Time**

Ro slumped into his bed, all around him was the gentle hum of the electronics, it's was comforting in a way. He closed his eyes, resting on the cold mattress, cooling him down.

Then a buzz.

Ro opened one eye as he looked around, the was a soft buzz here and there. He turned to his phone and saw it vibrate. He flipped it open and looked at the bright screen. A message in his inbox. He clicked in the open button and read its contents slowly. It was from one of his friends on the course. The spelling was all in text sleek and barely intelligible. But he got the gist of what it said.

"Unit-04's in America huh? I wonder. Is she still there?" Ro muttered to himself.

Ro moved his legs up and rolled to his side, stepping out of his bunk bed, he punched in a number on his phone as he walked along the corridors of the base.

It was relatively quiet at Gotenba Base. The morning crew were all fighting sleep from their eyes as they were going about with their duties around the base, paying little attention to Ro. He listened to the phone ring several times as he walked into the control room that overlooked the space that his Evangelion would normally be hanging in its container. No-one else was here. Perfect for a private conversation.

"Hello?" A female voice asked.

"Hey, it's me." Ro said as he leaned against the glass.

"Ro? God what time is it there?" The female asked before yawning on the phone.

"10 in the morning, but it feels like I've done a day's work already." Ro replied.

"Mmmmm tell me about it. They had me doing restart tests all night. Not fun." The female said. She was obviously tired.

"I take it you got it then?" Ro asked.

"The big shiny new unit? Oh my god it's so awesome!"

Ro smiled a little at her reaction, she had instantly perked up at that. "Well you deserve it. You were the best of us."

"Yeah. How's That hunk of junk you call Unit-06?" She asked.

"Hanging in there. Runs smooth as always." He replied.

"Well you just wait! My Eva is gonna wipe the floor with you when everything is all sorted." The female voice said in a cocky tone.

"Strong words, I've already got a couple of Angel kills to my tally however, so you'll need to catch up quick." Ro said.

"Mmmm Show-off."

"Anyway, the rate of this call is gonna be killing me so I'm gonna head off." Ro said as he stood up from the glass.

"Ok Ro and... Thanks."

"You're welcome Maria. Take care."

Ro ended the call and smiled gently. But the moment was interrupted by red klaxons going off around him.

"Christ! What now?!"

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 04:**

**Part 2: The justification of the namesake**

**10:15 AM Japan Standard Time**

The klaxons rang out and red Alert screens appears on both sides of the Command Center. Misato stood, arms crossed, along with the three main technicians as the data was coming in.

"Target detected by Mauna Kea Observatory! Status: Currently entering Earth's orbit!" Makoto stated.

"Surveillance Satellite 3 has a visual on the target. Putting it on the main view screen."

The image of a large sphere appeared on the view screen. Symbols darted around the surface. A clear haze of spatial distortion could be seen in its wake as it floated into earth's atmosphere. The image drew a loud gasp from everyone in the room.

"It has an AT-Field strong enough to bend light? That's unbelievable." Misato said.

"So, where do we expect it to land?" Misato asked before stopping herself in realisation. "Let me guess, its heading right here isn't it?"

Maya leaned back in her chair. "The MAGI are recalculating. Probability of a direct contact on NERV headquarters is over 99%"

High above in the upper atmosphere of Earth, several satellite platforms floated towards the large Angel. The front panels blasted off to reveal a massive amount of payloads carried on-board. Cylinders exposed and aimed at the Angel, soon delivering a massive amount of N2 weaponry in a bid to strike the Angel.

Each N2 mine that was fired from the platforms slammed into the Angel's AT-Field. Each impact resulting in a hexagonal shape appearing around the Angel as the AT-field deflected the explosion. The bombardment continued until all of the platforms had exhausted their ammunition.

The spatial distortion around the dark sphere expanded outward, enveloping the platforms and soon began to crush every one of them until they were the smallest size possible, sent hurtling down onto the Earth's surface.

* * *

**13:07 PM Japan Standard Time**

Ritsuko looked over the recorded footage from the surveillance satellites, sipping at her big cup of coffee. The light from the table reflecting on her glasses.

"Following the destruction of the payload satellites, the remaining surveillance satellites recorded the Angel sending the wreckage down to the planet's surface. The impact points appear to correlate to the Angel adjusting its aim to strike Tokyo-3 directly." Ritsuko stated as she showed the impact craters made by the Angel.

The three technicians: Maya, Makoto and Shigeru, all gathered around the lit table, looking at the data and collaborating between themselves as Misato looked on, arms crossed, deep in thought.

"The Angel will have run out of payload satellites by then, so it'll more than likely use itself as a bomb to destroy the Geofront." Maya said.

"We can't strike the target with any ground to air weaponry. The Positron rifle is still too heavily damaged from the Sixth Angel and I don't think the SSDF would appreciate us using it again even if they fixed it in time." Makoto noted.

"Aerial combat is out of the question since we haven't yet developed an aerial propulsion system for the Evas to use. And using the Aerial transports will likely be ineffective as well." Ritsuko said as she sipped her coffee.

"At the rate the Angel is descending, the MAGI calculate that it'll impact at approximately 2200 hours. That's eight hours and fifty three minutes from now." Shigeru stated.

"The Geofront will be vaporised as well as Central Dogma. Terminal Dogma will be left completely exposed to the Angel." Makoto noted.

"Matsushiro Base has agreed to handle the backup of the MAGI. The MAGI will be fully backed up within the next 4 hours of the next system reboot." Maya said.

"What about Commander Ikari? Any word from him?" Misato asked.

"Felia is in a discussion with him now. But the Angel is putting up a jamming field. Its small however, but the closer it is, it'll eventually cut all communications. What are you gonna do Misato?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato sat there for a good few seconds before leaning forward and standing up.

"I'll co-ordinate a plan to deal with the Angel and see what Felia thinks. I just hope I can come up with a good plan."

* * *

Felia sat at the commander's desk, before her was the hovering screen showing a phone call with Gendo Ikari. There was no visual feed so it was audio only.

"What is the current status of the Eva Units? Will they be functional for this operation?" Gendo asked.

"Unit-00 is fully functional and ready to be deployed. Unit-06 is still in the middle of repairs and assisting with the power needs of NERV." Felia replied.

"And the pilots?"

"All of them have been given the all clear and are ready for debriefing."

"Good. We're about to approach the Angel's jamming field. This will mean that we will not be able to make contact again until it has been destroyed."

"Understood Sir."

The phone call ended and the screen scrolled down. Felia sat down and leaned back into her chair.

"I hope Misato can come up with a good plan."

* * *

**13:59 PM Japan Standard Time**

Misato sighed and slumped into the chair next to Felia. Both of them sipping on their hot coffee cups. Felia was watching the world news. Staying up to date with current affairs.

"Boy do we have a problem on our hands." Misato said in a defeated tone.

Felia sat her coffee cup down and looked at Misato. "You want problems? I can give you problems. Africa is in the middle of an Ebola outbreak. The Middle East is in flames and rubble from terrorists popping out of the sand. The Russians are pissed about Bethany Base. Riots on all fronts. Dogs and cats living together and oh yes, I forgot. The usual assortment of protesters about the Evangelions. Keeping hard working people like you and me busy with mountains of paperwork. Anything I missed?"

Misato leant forward, resting her chin on the table close by to her coffee.

"When you put it like that, the destruction of the human race is small fry in comparison." She weakly joked.

Felia smiled a little bit. "As it always is Misato. We save the lives of whiny, bitchy ass people and get no thanks in return."

Felia took a sip of her coffee as she looked back at the news.

"Just remember one thing Misato." Felia said.

"What's that?" Misato asks, tilting her head.

"Whatever it is. It can't be that bad." Felia said.

The lights and everything else went dark suddenly, plunging Felia and Misato into darkness, the sound of engines and other electronic equipment dying ran out through the Geofront. It was gonna be a long thirty minutes.

"Verdammt!" Felia cursed.

"Hey Felia." Misato said in the darkness.

Felia sighed. "Yeah?"

"Whatever it is. It can't be that bad right?" Misato joked.

This sent Felia into a giggle. And soon both women were giggling in the darkness.

* * *

**18:00 PM Japan Standard Time**

Eva Unit-01 stood by a dam, the umbilical cable attached to the back. The red afternoon sun was setting in as the last of the NERV trucks drove off, having unloaded the last of its personnel to get the Unit ready. Misato stood nearby the drop-off area under a tent. She was explaining her plan to the three Eva pilots while Ritsuko was standing nearby with a computer showing a map of Tokyo-3.

"What? You want us to catch it with our hands?" Asuka exclaimed at Misato's plan.

"That's right! As the Angel descends, you'll max out your AT-Fields and catch it directly. The target has scrambled its co-ordinates so we can't get a clear point of impact. In order to narrow the field of possibility, all three working Evas will be deployed simultaneously in three different locations."

"Listen! I've already proved I can destroy an Angel on my own! I don't need these dead-weights tying me down!"

"No way Asuka! It's impossible. This is the projected area of impact." Misato said as Ritsuko brought up the map of the Eva coverage.

"Mein Gott! That's a huge area!" Asuka exclaimed.

"Exactly. I need all three of you to make this Miracle work."

"What is this positing based on exactly?" Rei questioned in her deadpan voice.

"Woman's intuition." Came Misato's casual reply.

"Oh that's reliable!" Asuka shouted, crossing her arms.

"What's the chance of success?" Shinji asked.

"Its probably best if you didn't know that." Misato said with a smile.

"For now, get to your Evas. The MAGI will use the street lights to plot the best course to the target. I'll see you three later. I'm counting on you."

With that, Misato and Ritsuko left the three Eva pilots to get themselves ready for the operation. Asuka did not hide how dismayed she looked.

"Woman's intuition. This miracle is slipping further and further away."

Shinji looked at Asuka. "She plays the lottery a lot. But she hardly ever wins."

"Mein Gott! This is so stupid! I've got more chance of dancing with an animated turnip!" Asuka shouted as she stormed off to her Eva.

Shinji watched her for a bit before turning to Rei, seeing her silently doing the same herself. He turned and looked at his own Eva as it stood perfectly still, the afternoon sun's rays shining off the purple armour.

* * *

**21:45 PM Japan Standard Time**

The night air was cold, the sun had settled down under the horizon and the stars had come out. Searchlights had been set up and locked onto the armour of the three Evangelions as they stood at their positions. Bigger searchlights were lit around Tokyo-3, shining up into the night sky to track the Angel high above. There were a few clouds overhead, making the tracking a little more difficult.

Inside of her Evangelion. Asuka sat proudly as she listened to the radio chatter from the NERV techs amongst the hum of her Unit. She flexed her fingers occasionally, watching her Eva's hands move in synch.

"I can beat this Angel by myself. I don't need Stupid Shinji or Wondergirl." She muttered to herself.

She looked into the view screens of her fellow pilots. Seeing them relaxed with their eyes closed. Lost in their own little worlds. But she looked forward past them. She was going to beat this Angel easily.

* * *

**21:50 PM Japan Standard Time**

Misato looked up at the screen showing the Angel with her arms folded. "Alright. Here is comes. Evangelions, get into your start positions."

The sound of artificial muscles being stretched groaned through the air as all three Evangelion units crouched down into a starting position for their runs. Large fingers pressed into the concrete floor, head's tilted up to look forward. Misato's voice came over the radio in the usual serious tone she undertook during operations.

"We can't rely too heavily on the secondary data. So from here on, priority for all actions will be left to your judgement. Everything we've got is riding on the three of you and your Evas."

"Target approaching! Distance at approximately 30,000 feet!" Shigeru stated.

"Understood, release the cables when the Angel hits 20,000 feet!" Misato ordered.

* * *

**21:54 PM Japan Standard Time**

"Let's go, let's go." Asuka muttered under her breath as she waited for the go.

Suddenly the lights turned off all around her. All of the power shut off around Tokyo-3 in one single second. Meanwhile ahead of her, blocks further away turned off in quick succession, even the searchlights soon turned dark, plunging Tokyo-3 into darkness and the mercy of the moonlight and stars above.

"What?" She asked in a panic, the radio from NERV had gone dead, but her connection to the pilots was still on.

The 5 minute timer started on the Eva's battery. She didn't even wait for a response from the panicking techs. She reached back and pulled the electrical plug out of the back socket, before she ploughed her Evangelion forward and started the run.

"Charge!"

* * *

Misato leant over Makoto's shoulder. "What happened?!"

"The Power restart has kicked in! We've lost the secondary data!" Makoto said.

"We're getting reports that Back-up generator Alpha is coming online now. We're only gonna be 33% functional." Maya noted.

"Maintain the MAGI and divert all the remaining power to the lighting system to guide the Evas, they need that route!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

* * *

The three Evangelions thundered down their respective routes in total darkness, charging forward with everything they had, their only visual aid was up in the sky as the clouds above parted. Showing the Angel above in the sky.

As Unit-00 leapt over two power lines, the lights for their respective routes came back on. Although everything else was still enveloped in darkness.

From high above, the lights could been seen triangulating to a spot that the Angel was heading for. Something the Angel did not ignore as it descended.

Lines on the black sphere of the Angel appeared and it scattered, falling away like an egg shell, cast off into the wind. A small sphere could be seen inside, hexagonal shapes before it turned and started to guide the Angel into a different direction, using the wind to guide it.

"Target is changing course and accelerating! MAGI are selecting route 205!" Shigeru shouted.

The pulsing lights ahead of Asuka shifted to the left, she leaned into the corner and kept Unit-02 running at top speed, jumping over a couple of electrical lines.

"It's moving faster! There's no way I'm gonna reach it in time!" Asuka exclaimed.

"I'll take care of it!" Shinji exclaimed.

He slammed his controls forward, pushing Unit-01 forward as fast as he could. White clouds trailed behind him as he ran. Breaking the sound barrier and letting off a sonic boom that flew like a shock wave, shattering glass in buildings and sending cars and anything else that wasn't nailed down flying.

The colourful sphere split again, opening up like wings unfolding, splaying out as the Angel glided down towards the impact point. A red halo appeared behind it, pushing it down towards the Earth.

Shinji skidded the feet of his Evangelion as he came to the impact point directly underneath the Angel.

"AT-FIELD AT MAX POWER!"

A purple haze appeared around Unit-01 as it maxed out its AT-Field, all of the trees and debris surrounding the Eva were soon cleared by the expanding AT-Field.

Shinji put the Eva's hands up, touching the Angel's AT-Field and pushing back. Stopping it from touching the ground.  
From the "eye" of the Angel came an elongated form. The bone white mask of an Angel followed by long arms, folding outward and reaching down. The fingers of the Angel's hands slipped through the AT-Field and Unit-01's fingers, taking hold of the hands and then began to squeeze tightly. The sound of metal being crushed, flesh torn and bones breaking soon snapped as the Angel's hands turned and confirmed into the shape of spears. Crushing Unit-01's hands and piercing through the arms.  
Shinji let out a painful scream as bright marks appeared on his hands, the heat and searing pain coming through clearly from the feedback of his synchronisation. He desperately held on his controls, trying not to lose his grip through the pain.

"Unit-02, get the core." Rei said.

"I know that dammit! I'm almost there!" Asuka shouted as she ran. Two progressive knife holsters slide forward from compartments in Unit-02's shoulders.

Unit-00 was the first to arrive, Rei maxed out her AT-Field, the right side of the Angel lifted up slightly.  
She pulled out her own progressive knife and cut through the Angel's AT-Field. Clearing the way for Asuka.

As she did this, the Angel took notice. It's red glowing eyes staring down on her as its head turned and snapped around.  
Suddenly a shine from the eyes and a blast pushed Unit-00 away, striking it in the mid-section and sent Rei and Unit-00 into the ground some distance away.

The red rings floating above the Angel pulsed and became more intense, pushing more weight down onto Unit-01, pushing its feet into the ground, the Angel's arms spearing through the bone and muscle of Unit-01's arms more, corkscrewing through the elbows.

Asuka leaped forward, forgoing pushing the AT-Field up, she grabbed onto both progressive knifes from the holsters on her shoulders and sliced through the Angel's AT-Field easily with one knife, thrusting the other knife forward. The core bounced off as the knife struck at it.

"Verdammt! That damn thing is scurrying around!" Asuka cursed as the core spun around the Angel's body quickly.

"Asuka! Hurry!" Shinji shouted.

"I'm trying dammit!" Asuka shouted as her eyes darted left and right, trying to track the position of the core.

The Angel pushed down more. Fountains of blood poured from Unit-01's arms as the weight forced it into the ground more, burying Unit-01 at knee height.

"ASUKA!" Shinji shouted.

"Not this time! Verdammt!"

Asuka swung the knife in her right hand sideways, catching the Angel on the horizontal axis, she quickly shoved the second knife into the underside of the core with her left hand.

"Now DIIIEEE!"

Asuka leaned back and sent Unit-02's left foot rising upwards with a bicycle kick, kicking the second knife through the core and shattering it cleanly into two.

The wings of the Angel gently flowed down, laying gently on the ground like feathers.  
An eruption of blood came from the center of the Angel, following along the wings before the central mass then glowed and erupted into an cross of light.

The blood of the Angel flowed and cascading though the nearby towns. Washing away more simpler bamboo homes and massive steel tower blocks with the strength of the torrential red wave. Seeping through and overflowing lesser lakes of pure water. Turing them from blue to red.

* * *

**22:01 PM Japan Standard Time**

Misato leaned forward on the desk as the alert klaxons died down. "You did it. Thank you." She breathed out in relief.

"Radio systems are back online. Incoming call from Commander Ikari." Shigeru said.

"Patch him through."

Misato stood up to attention as a screen scrolled up. Showing a phone call from Commander Fuyutsuki. There wasn't any visual data, so AUDIO ONLY was the most prominent words on the screen.

"I apologise Commander. Because of my actions, all three Evas have sustained heavy damage. The responsibility is mine and mine alone." Misato said.

"Not to worry. Given the sheer scale of how much damage this Angel imposed, the circumstances are quite favourable." Fuyutsuki said.

The screen swapped for another as Gendo Ikari joined into the conversation. "I agree. You did well, Colonel Katsuragi."

"Thank you Sir."

"Patch me through to Unit-01's pilot." Gendo ordered.

This made Misato blink in surprise for a second at the Commander's request.

* * *

Inside of Unit-01's entry plug came a holograph of the phone call from Gendo Ikari. The display still showing that it was audio only.

"I heard what happened. You did very well Shinji."

Shinji looked surprised at the screen as he heard his father's words. "Umm. Thank you Sir."

"I'll leave the recovery effort to you Colonel Katsuragi." Gendo ordered.

"Yes Sir. Expedite recovery of all three Evas." Misato ordered.

Shinji continued to stare at the screen as the techs began their work.

* * *

**01:36 AM Japan Standard Time**

The military VToL's had been going into overtime ever since the Angel was confirmed dead. Unit-00 was the last one of the three Eva Units to be airlifted out.

Shinji listened to his music, hearing the SDAT stop and playing the 26th track again. The door behind him slid open suddenly. In a panic, Shinji quickly slumped into a sleeping position. Careful not to awake the redheaded dragon that had been in that room on the other side of the door.  
Over the top of his quiet music, Shinji heard footsteps walking around on the carpet. He listened with closed eyes as the bathroom was used and then heard more footsteps inching closer to him. He heard and felt a body slump into the bed behind him. He slowly opened his eyes and turned, seeing Asuka laying behind him. He quickly faced forward, trying to stay quiet.

"You know. You should have technically addressed me by my rank as Captain." Asuka said quietly.

Shinji didn't know how to react or say anything. How had she known he was awake?

"But I guess I can make an exception, but only if you let me call you Stupid Shinji."

Shinji turned back slowly. She was facing away from him.

"Umm... Asuka?" Shinji asked.

Although Asuka hunched her shoulders a bit, she relaxed a little. Shinji decided to ask again.

"I was wondering. Why do you pilot the Eva?" He asked.

Asuka was silent for a few moments. "Stupid Shinji. I pilot it because I want to. It's the only thing that matters to me. It's how I want the world to remember me by. I don't need qualifications or a degree to prove I'm the best pilot."

Asuka turned slightly. "What about you? Why do you pilot the Eva?"

Shinji looked at his bandaged hand. "I think... I do it for my farther's approval. Today, he actually praised me."

Asuka turned back. "Stupid Shinji. You really are an idiot."

* * *

**05:56 AM Japan Standard Time**

Ro opened the entry way hatch to the outside world, birds twitting and the sunlight blazed on him, forcing him to close his eyes. He stretched his arms upwards, going onto his toes. Letting out a loud yawn as the muscles clicked.  
Fresh air and a good stretch.  
But, the air had a faint smell to it. He stopped in mid-stretch. Eyes closed and he sniffed. There was a faint smell of iron in the air.  
He lowered his arms and opened his eyes. Suddenly crying out in disbelief.

"What the fuck is all of this shit?!"

The area before him had been encrusted with red sludge, a small path had been carved out of it for travel. Masses of the Geofront before him had been flooded the same way, a massive chunk of mountainside had been blown away. The dark silhouette of Eva Unit-02 been airlifted met his eyes.

His ears soon attuned to the sound of creaking wheels. He saw the shop owners of the noodle stand he regularly visited coming up the path. Steaming piles of food in plastic bags carried on what was left of their business. They noticed him and called him over.

Ro slowly stepped up to them, shocked at the sight.

The shop owner bowed and apologised profusely to him, before handing him an order. Ro hardly had any time to check the food bag before the owner started to drag his business away. Too much hassle of Angel attacks. As the owner passed out of sight, Ro slowly checked his bag.

"What? This is... Ramen? But... I never ordered any." Ro said as he looked.

"Hey Ro!" Cried out a familiar voice.

Ro groaned and growled, grumbling as he turned and his eyes met Kaji. He was cycling along with a steaming food bag of his own, he pulled up in front of the teenager, lowering his sunglasses.

"It seems they mixed up my order. They gave me noodles instead of Ramen. Had to use a bike to get up here. Roads are too narrow for cars at the moment." Kaji said.

Ro shoved his bag forward with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Swap. They gave me Ramen."

Kaji reached for his bag and swapped with Ro, who's early morning wake up was shattered into levels of annoyance that made him almost snatch the bag from Kaji's hand.

"Get a good night's sleep at least?" Kaji asked innocently.

Ro mumbled as he stomped back into the base. Taking hold of the metal bar and pulling on it roughly behind him, slamming the metal hatch shut with a loud slam.

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers:

As some of you know, I try to get a chapter out on time. But this chapter took a bit of work to get done. I will try to maintain a level of consistency as best as I can. Every chapter will be released every 1-2 weeks. So come back on either the 26th of October or 2nd of November 2014 for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion!


	5. Chapter 5

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 05:**

**Part 1: Gift of the wise**

The lights within the entry plug slowly came on, followed by the audible hum. The screens on both sides slowly came into view pixel by pixel in a sweep from the center to the sides. Sat in the seat was a young woman with long blonde hair wearing a silver plug suit, around her neck was a Christian cross pendent. Across her face was a visor that left only her mouth uncovered.

Text on the screens on both sides of the woman slowly typed in with glowing blue and white text. Things were starting up more as systems came online.

Across the visor was the lettering: **Evangelion - 04** etched into the visor. The lettering slowly glowed blue as it powered up. The woman shifted in her seat. Clearly feeling uncomfortable as she moved and try to wriggle the feeling out of her. The intercom came on as she squirmed around.

"Maria. Please remain still for the moment." Came a male voice.

"Body feels fuzzy, like pins and needles." Maria replied.

"Your body is getting used to the sensation of touch from the Evangelion body. It's part of the feedback loop from your synchronisation."

Maria tried to settle down, but it was still uncomfortable. Eventually it died down enough that she could relax and remain still.

"How do you feel now?"

"My right arm and chest are clear, everything else still feels a little fuzzy." Maria responded.

"That's to be expected. Try moving the right hand."

Maria slowly opened and closed her gloved right hand a few times, feeling the sensation following her action.

"And clench." Came the order from the intercom.

Maria followed the orders and clenched her fist tightly. Balling it up into a fist and held it for a few moments.

"Good work Maria. That'll be all today. Let's get you out of there."

Maria leaned back into her seat and lifted the visor up, revealing her blue eyes, bubbles escaped from her lips as she relaxed and rested into the gentle hum before drifting off into silence and darkness.

* * *

The sound of the trumpet broke the silence, bringing Maria back into the world she had left for a few hours...  
Or was it a few seconds?  
She couldn't really tell, it was a dreamless night in any case, passed out more through exhaustion then actually sleeping. Her body still ached and felt raw. She half opened her eyes to the sound blaring in the room. She slowly stirred, fighting her body's cries of continued rest, swinging her feet around and walked slowly to the doorway.  
In the doorframe was one of the instructors blowing on the trumpet loudly and for him this morning, it was a good day indeed to be blowing his trumpet as he played it with quite a bit of enthusiasm.  
She swiftly grabbed the loud musical instrument out of his hands and lips as he was in mid-note and walked to the window opposite the door, sliding the bottom half of the window open and throwing the instrument outside to land on the hot sand. She slammed the window down and then walked to her bed, collapsing on top of the bed covers and began to snore loudly as she gave in to her body's requests for more sleep and drifted off into dreamland finally.

As Maria snored loudly, the others in the room began to stir from their beds. Awoken from the loud trumpet playing as well. They groaned and rose out of the covers and stepped out of their beds. Muttering to themselves as they left the room.  
The room itself was a rectangular room that contained seven beds, each with its own footlocker and cupboard. Of the seven beds was an empty bed opposite Maria's with an open footlocker. The plaque on the foot end of the empty bed read with straight lettering: **Ro Sohryu**.

The plaques on the other beds all named the children who had been sleeping in them: **Maria Vincennes, Tim Barker, David McCoy, Pauline McGanne, Chris Eccles and Matthew Smithe**.  
All of the names were written in the same straight lettering. Maria continued to snore as she slept in the empty dormitory room. She would wake up later when her body had gotten enough rest.

* * *

Back within the Command Center of NERV Headquarters was Ritsuko Akagi, she raised the warm cup of black coffee to her lips, leaning back into her seat as code compiled before her on the screen. A keyboard loosely connected by wires sat on her lap. The access panels to the three MAGI super computers: Casper, Balthazar and Melchior were all open to the air and exposed rusty piping that ran millions of wires, carrying trillions of computations a second. Cables piled out of the panels like roots from a plant that had been unearthed.  
Overhead blasted announcements made by the MAGI on the various loudspeakers around the Command Center, giving the Command Center staff audible status messages about the three super computers. Ritsuko had been sitting next to the supercomputer Melchior that made up part of the MAGI. Close by to Dr Akagi was Lieutenant Maya Ibuki, busy working on her own keyboard and code compiling.

"You seem to be getting quicker at that Maya." Ritsuko said in a pleased tone.

"Well I can't take all the credit. I have been learning from you after all." Maya said as she worked.

"Oh wait, I think A-8 is faster for that check, let me run it through." Ritsuko noted before she typed quickly on the keyboard with one hand.

Maya's eyes widened as the code whizzed by at an incredible rate. It was much faster then what she could ever pull off currently, even though Dr Akagi had been teaching her how the run the MAGI in her steed. She turned back to Ritsuko, who was focusing on half a dozen automated checks already, letting the A-8 code compile.

"She is the master." Maya muttered to herself.

"Good morning Dr Akagi." Felia said with a smile on her face as the personal lift slowly came up and locked into place.

She held onto the railing with one hand, the other carried a wide, yet relatively thin, briefcase.

"Good morning Felia. Did you get those algorithms?" Ritsuko asked without turning her head to her.

Felia smiled brightly and held up her briefcase in response to Ritsuko's question. Gently tapping on a corner of the raised briefcase.

"Just got the last one today! The Chinese were the ones holding us up. But I finally managed to get it from them."

Felia unlocked the briefcase and handed it into Ritsuko's hands. Who moved the keyboard to one side and sat the case onto her lap. She opened the case and looked inside. There were six physical plastic cards with circuits on the end, each with a handle with a number on the other end. Maya couldn't help her curiosity and looked in on the cards.

"Those are the algorithms?" Maya asked as she peered down at them.

"Indeed they are. These cards represent the data and security features of the other seven of the eight NERV branches from around the world. NERV Japan has its own algorithm card that it shares with the other bases as well." Felia explained.

"But why are there only six cards and not seven?" Maya asked.

"The second and third NERV branches are in the USA, so they hold the second algorithm card. The Russian's hold the third. The forth in Germany. The fifth in Africa. The sixth is in Australia while the final one is in China. It's taken a year's work of negotiations just to get these algorithm cards back here in time for the MAGI's routine maintenance." Felia explained to the lieutenant.

"Does it really take that long?" Maya asked.

"It certainly did. The only thing more tougher to negotiate is the Vatican Treaty, and even I can't move mountains to do anything about that."

As Felia explained to Maya Ibuki, Ritsuko was slowly removing each algorithm card and slotting it sequentially into a eight port socket, the first one was already filled with Japan's card. As she slotted them in, the display beeped and flashed green as the card was accepted. She did this with every card until she slotted in the eighth card. The final slot beeped on the display.

"All the algorithms are in." Ritsuko explained.

The final diagnostic display for the MAGI beeped as the maintenance check finished. Casper, Balthazar and Melchior all flashed green with confirmation before a display showing the percentage of the algorithm integration appeared.

"The upgrade from the algorithms will take some time. I'll inform you when it's completed." Ritsuko said to Felia.

"Thank you Dr Akagi." Felia said with a bow to Ritusko and then bowed to Maya. "Lieutenant."

"Ma'am."

"If you'll both excuse me, I need to get some coffee."

* * *

"Coffee, strong, black, no sugar thanks." Maria mumbled.

The cooking lady poured a cup of coffee for her and gently sat it down onto Maria's tray. She gave a polite 'thank you' to the woman before she walked to the others and sat down with them, taking a fork and stabbing a sausage with it, bringing it to her lips and munched on the end of it.

"Hey Captain." The group greeted her.

"Mmmmm morning." Maria mumbled with a mouthful.

"It's technically afternoon Cap'n."

"Whatever. What's the news?"

Pauline stood up from her seat and stood by a window. She opened the window blind, letting in bright light while showing a mass of people standing on the other side of the fence that was surrounding the complex some distance away. They were waving large signs and chanting loudly. Making demands about 'releasing the children' and that 'Evangelions were against God'.

"Ugh. Their back again." Maria grumbled.

Pauline lowered the blind. "They've been at this particular protest since the early hours of this morning. They've even set up camp outside."

"When are they gonna learn that we want to do this training? There isn't any reason not to be doing this!" Maria said.

"Imminent death from an Angel?" Piped up Tim.

"Barker, shut up. We eat Angels for breakfast. So no way in hell are we gonna be killed by an Angel." Maria said before she chewed a piece of the sausage in annoyance.

"Got to give them credit though. Their pretty darn persistent." McCoy said.

"Persistent assholes." Grumbled Maria as she busied herself with having her food.

"Religiously so. Some guy in rags has been waving a cross and book at the security guys." Pauline noted.

Maria stopped for a moment, even her jaw slowed to stillness. She took a few moments before she stood up, picked up her coffee and food and walked out briskly from the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" Barker asked as he tucked into his lunch.

"Must've been her dad. He's one of the protesters. Apparently he thinks she was kidnapped or brainwashed by the government. Even though she wanted to be here to get away from him. He's been trying to get her to leave ever since." Eccles explained.

* * *

Sat in a lonely office at the top of the pyramid structure that stood like a metallic Egyptian pyramid in the middle of the desert of Area 51 was the commander of that facility. He was a man in his mid-30's. Grey lines of hair had started to appear among his normally dark hair on the edge of his sideburns. He sat leaning forward on the table staring at a digital report screen that showed the image of a haggard old priest. Alongside him stood his Vice Commander, standing with his hands behind his back, a red visor across his eyes. Sat before them was on of their agents. The man who'd provided the report.

"Kane Vincennes, he's a local vicar that works closely with the military base nearby." The agent said.

"Is he going to be a problem?" The Commander asked.

"Not at the moment sir, but NERV has been receiving all kinds of legal challenges from him to get his daughter, Maria Vincennes, out of the project." The agent reported.

"And what has Maria said about all of this?" The Commander asked.

"She's buried herself into the testing for Unit-04. Hard to imagine that she's actually wanting to test more than what the secondary NERV base can handle."

The Commander leaned back in his chair. "Sounds like she's wanting to get away from her father. And the more he tries, the more she'll stay."

"So what do we do?"

"Keep her testing. We could use the synchronisation data for 04's systems. As for her father, keep him at a distance."

"Yes Sir."

"Dismissed."

The agent saluted before turning around and walking out of the large office.

"Still regretting having showed him the work her daughter would be doing?" The Commander asked suddenly.

"Not in the slightest. He just proves that there are still too many men that rely too much on God to solve their problems. And he won't ever understand the work we do. His faith won't allow him." The Vice Commander finally said.

"I've been meaning to ask. How did the algorithm hand over go?" The Commander asked.

"It went smoothly as usual. The Chinese were still the reluctant ones for co-operating as usual." The Vice Commander responded.

"If they weren't so scared of the Angels they'd never to have agreed to this." The Commander said.

"The Russians are still expecting a response about Bethany Base."

The Commander paused for a moment before he rose from his chair. "What more is there to be said. An Angel escaped and was killed. Nothing more. Besides, we have better matters to attend to. Like our new pilots in training."

* * *

Barker recoiled back into his seat as the right side of face plate to his Eva was smashed in from the impact of the opposing Eva's fist. He took a step back, right arm blocking as he leaned back in and struck with his left hand.  
The opposing Eva blocked his left hand and struck at his mid-section. Barker felt the blow in his stomach and doubled over in pain, coughing and wheezing for air. Sucking more LCL into his lungs.  
The Eva he piloted followed his movements and the opposing Eva saw this, grabbing his Eva by the back of the neck and pulled out a Progressive Knife, slamming the blade into the spinal column and slicing through it.  
Barker screamed in pain as he felt the searing pain in his neck as the Evangelion shut down. He collapsed and sat in his seat, bent over double in pain.

Barker panted and gasped for air in the darkness for a few moments before the top half of the entry plug opened up and bright lights shone down on him as the LCL escaped and flowed out of the entry plug. Showing the entry plug half inserted into an Evangelion's body that had no head, arms or anything else below the waist other the a mass of wires.  
Barker rubbed the back of his neck. The searing sensation stayed for a few more moments.

"That was sloppy Barker. Your fighting skills are severely lacking, you left yourself completely wide open for the target to disable you."

"Ugh. Sorry." Barker apologised.

"Step out of the entry plug. We'll go back to basic hand-to-hand tomorrow."

Barker slowly got up and walked out of the testing facility. His whole body ached. He winced and groaned in pain as he walked and hobbled all the way to the showers.  
He was eventually joined by the other three test pilots: McCoy, Eccles and Smithe. They all winced as they stepped into the shower. All four of them stepping out of their plug suits to wash the LCL off and to soothe the aching pains. They were all hurting as well.

"I've never been through so much pain in my life." Barker groaned as the hot water cascaded down his body.

"You think you've got it bad. I'm being put back to basic hand to hand." Smithe moaned as he turned the hot water on. Rubbing his neck as well.

"Same here." McCoy said.

"Me too."Eccles followed.

"Me three." Barker said finally.

"The hell they think putting us through this? Ro and the Cap'n didn't have this problem." Eccles asked.

Ow." Barker groaned in pain. Rubbing his neck. "I wouldn't be surprised if the AI was based on either of those two."

"You think their trying to rush us a bit?" McCoy asked.

"Perhaps, we'll just have to work harder then. Learn to surpass the masters." Smithe said with a optimistic smile.

"Hey. Anyone notice how the Cap'n was this morning?" Eccles asked.

"You mean dead tired? I know the feeling. I'm exhausted by the end of training." Barker said.

"Yet she's still training."Eccles said.

"How do you know that?" McCoy asked.

"The lighting in the girl's showers hasn't come on yet." Eccles pointed to the windows on the opposite wall, they was semi-transparent, allowing the boys to see whether or not the light was on in the shower next door.

"Shame on you Bones. No sneak peek tonight." Barker teased McCoy.

"Oh for crying out loud. My name isn't based on Star Trek! And I certainly wouldn't dare!" McCoy shouted, easily suckered into the tease.

"Yeah yeah. Well I'm off. See you guys in the dorm." Barker said as he grabbed a nearby towel and walked out of the showers.

* * *

Tim Barker was sat in his bed reading a manual on something with the help of the overhead lamp on the wall while his right hand occasional dipped into a bag of jelly babies resting beside him that he had gotten earlier in the day before training. He was busy munching on a black one when Eccles finally walked in.

"Evening." Barker said as his jaws moved in a chewing motion.

"Good evening." Eccles mumbled as he walked to his bed.

"Would you like a jelly baby?" Barker offered as he held out the bag.

Eccles looked at the bag for a moment, Barker's obsession with the things had resulted in a slight weight gain for the child. But Eccles slowly walked up to the bed and slipped a couple of fingers inside, pulling out a red jelly baby.

"Thanks." Eccles said as he bit the head off the jelly baby, tasting the sweet strawberry flavour. "Cap'n hasn't come back has she?"

"Hmm?" Barker murmured as he looked up, having pulled himself from his book. "Oh yes. The Captain hasn't returned yet. Your worried aren't you?"

"Worried she's gonna crash and burn."

"She'll be fine. Get some sleep. Better to turn in before she catches you." Barker said as he shut the manual and put both it and the Jelly Babies into the footlocker before tucking himself into bed.

"Good night." Barker said.

"Night." Eccles said as he got himself ready for bed.

* * *

Maria slowly walked from one building to another. The cold desert wind blowing on her face as the moon above with its red streak across it shone down on her. It was accompanied by the dozens of stars above in the night sky.

Maria was no longer wearing her plug suit. She'd changed into some comfy jeans, a loose t-shirt and a leather jacket. A Christian cross pendent swung from her neck as she walked on the sand. Hearing the gentle crunch of the sand being stepped on with every step she took.

She slowed for a moment and looked up at the sky at the moon and the stars. Years ago she had believed that God had been up in the sky as her father told her. But she always wondered where heaven went when the stars appeared. Her father could never have a good enough explanation and she soon fell out of Religion all together over the next few years.  
The pendent shone from the moon's rays. The sands shifted around her feet and the wind blew briskly. She zipped up the jacket and put her hands in her pockets. She had to get inside and soon or else the desert cold would get to her.  
As she reached the door to the building, she pulled out her security pass, swiping it through the machine. It beeped green and she pushed the door inwards to open it.

From behind came a sudden commotion and a rush of bodies, pushing her to the floor in the doorway and rushing through. Things went by quickly, yet relatively quitely. No alarms, the people that had rushed her kept her pinned down, a hand covered her mouth, they hardly said a thing. Rushing through rooms and searching for things. They kept her held tightly as they pulled her up and made her walk along with them, keeping her quiet as they travelled.

Eventually the adults that had held her found what they had been looked for. The dormitory room that held the other pilots. They quickly walked in, pinning the children to their beds as they awoke from mid-sleep. Everything was relatively quiet. Eventually a man stood in the middle of the beds, looking at her. He was wearing ragged clothing. Sand and dust had filled most of his pockets and he surveyed the room from under his ragged hood. He motioned to the adults holding Maria to bring her forward. They did so and released their grip in her a bit so that she could stand and talk.

"Where is other child? Shouldn't he be here with the rest of you?" He asked in a gravelly voice.

Maria knew from the voice just who it was that was asking her the question from under the hood.

"He's already in Japan. Father." She said in a disgusted tone.

The man lowered his head and made a short prayer. "Alas I cannot save his soul from here then."

Maria looked around the room as her father continued his prayer, some of the adults were carrying weapons, slung over their shoulders. Some of them were handheld like pistols, others carried rifles and one even held an old double barrelled shotgun.

As he finished his prayer, he raised his head and pulled the hood up and back. Standing before Maria was her father. Kane Vincennes. A haggard old man with sunken cheeks that was barely taller than her. But he stood with more authority and what he believed to be the moral high ground.

Maria suddenly sprung from the loose hold that the adults had on her. Striking hard and throwing the adults around in a bid to run for the nearest alarm. Although it was a fire alarm, but it was an alarm none the less and would certainly cause some noise. Her father, although old, was less than a second behind her, but he simply wasn't quick enough to stop her from slamming her elbow into the alarm to break the glass and slamming on the button with her palm. Causing the loud alarm to go off.

* * *

The Commander of the U.S.A Branch stirred and woke up in bed to the sound of the telephone ringing. He struggled to find his bedside lamp and turn the light on before he picked up the wireless phone, putting it to his ear. Uttering a mumbled response to whoever was calling.

"Mmmmmmmmm hello?"

The news that his ear received was not good and soon his eyes sprung wide open and he had leapt out of his bed and threw on a set of clothes quickly, the bed covers thrown to the side and flung to the floor, he picked up the phone to take with him as he stormed out of his bedroom.

* * *

The protesters had soon barricaded the room with all the furniture they could muster to block the security forces from getting in, putting the heavy cupboards in front of the door, bracing it with their shoulders. They had put most of their weapons down into the empty footlocker to focus on holding the barricade. Overhead the fire alarm still rang out.  
Kane Vincennes, the religious leader of the group, motioned to one of the women protesters and pointed towards the children before he put his own shoulder to the barricade. Putting his focus forward to the barricade.  
The woman turned to the back, heading towards the furniture that had been used to pen in the children so far and block the window so nobody could escape or get in. She stopped short and noticed the footlocker that the guns had been placed in was empty, as she looked up, a fearful expression came over her face and she backed up slowly.

The protesters had their backs to the woman as she tried to get their attention. She managed to eventually get them to notice one by one. Their expressions began matching hers as they saw what she saw.

Before them, at the rear of the room were all of the Evangelion pilots, spread out in a line and using the furniture that hadn't been used as barricades yet as cover. Each one had taken hold of the weapons the protesters had brought in and were now aiming right at the group of adults. Maria was in the center of the line. Holding the shotgun in her hands. She pulled the hammer back as she aimed both barrels squarely on her father.

* * *

The situation had been defused quickly by the actions of the pilots. The protesters soon surrendered after being held at gunpoint and slowly took down the barricade. The security forces of the base soon swamped over them. The protesters being singled out one by one, each one flanked by two guards that held them with their hands behind their backs in cuffs. They struggled as they were taken out of the room one at a time. Each of the protesters cursed the children as they left.

"You kids, your nothing but corrupted workers of the Devil. Why won't you listen to reason?" One of the protesters cursed.

"Anyone who thinks being stomped on by a giant monster as a good thing is a certified wacko." Maria said sternly.

"Liars! We'll show you the truth yet! We are everywhere and our belief cannot be halted! You'll see! Even Japan can't stop us!" One of the protesters yelled as they were dragged away by two security men.

"Even you!" A woman shouted, pointing at Maria. "Maria Vincennes! Are the daughter of a priest! You know better than to go against the agents of God!"

Maria stood firm for a few moments as the woman was dragged away in cuffs. Yelling and cursing as her feet dragged on the floor. Eccles slowly came up to Maria's side.

"So, what do we do now Cap'n?" Eccles asked.

"If what my father and his group are saying is true, we need to warn NERV in Japan. Now. Get to Communications and tell them what's been said." Maria ordered.

"Aye-aye." Eccles said before he ran off.

Maria stood by herself for a while. Lost in thought as she looked downward, her hand was wrapped around the pendent she was wearing around her neck. She brought her hand up and opened it, staring at the Christian cross. She clenched her hand around it, frowning as she squeezed on it tightly.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 05:**

**Part 2: Violation within the womb**

Ro rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The usual tone of the alarm clock hadn't been what dragged him out of bed. But the calls from the main security checkpoint to the base. He mumbled and muttered to himself as he drearily walked the corridors in a loose shirt, some shorts and a pair of slippers and swayed his way to the commotion outside.

It was bright, as he had found most mornings in Japan. The road was hazy with the heat, but in the distance, he could see at the gate was a school girl arguing with the guard, she was clutching her bag tightly. As he got nearer, he heard her loud voice of protests along with the guard's.

He showed his ID to the security guard at the checkpoint and the guard lifted the barrier up. He approached the two arguing individuals.

"Hey Class Rep. What are you doing here? It's like six in the morning." Ro said before drifting into a long yawn.

"She claims she's here to hand you some paperwork." The guard said.

"It's his school papers. He hasn't been in for a few days." Hikari said defensively. Clutching her bag.

"Yeah. Sorry about that Class Rep. My job has been making me work all kinds of crazy hours. Here, pass them to me. I'll get them done." Ro said with his hand out.

"But security protocol says I have to examine the bag, she won't let me." The guard interrupted.

Ro turned and looked at the guard. looking at the ranking on the collar and shoulders. "What's your rank?"

"Private." The guard answered.

"Well Private. I'm ranked Sergeant. You should be addressing me as Sir. Do you understand me?" Ro said, pointing his finger at the guard's chest.

The guard stood up straight. Saluting him. "Sir. Yes Sir."

"Good. Dismissed." Ro said to the guard before he turned to Hikari. Holding out his hand. "Hand me the papers."

Hikari reached into her bag and handed Ro the work papers from school. There were quite a few bundles and they weighed a fair bit.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I better go. I need to deliver Rei Ayanami's papers to her as well." Hikari said.

Ro said his goodbyes as Hikari bowed and he waved her off. He slowly turned and walked back through the checkpoint, checking his papers.

He remembered the handshake he had with Rei the other day, his mind wandered a bit.  
He turned back and called out to Hikari, taking off at a brisk walk back through the checkpoint to catch up to her.

"Hey, I'll take care of Rei's papers. You head off to school. I'm gonna be busy for a few more days anyway." He said.

"Oh, well. Here you go then." Hikari said, handing him Rei's papers.

"See you in about a week Class Rep."

Hikari bowed again and walked off down the road.

* * *

Ro walked along the concrete floor as building works continued on the damaged sections of the building, repairing the damage done to the structure from an earlier Angel attack. It had cut the building into two sections and the workers were now fixing the middle section. He could hear metal clanging as they worked on repairing the foundations of the building. It would be some time before the two sections of the building would be joined together again.

He pulled out a piece of paper, checking it with the door numbers. He was definitely on the right floor of the building. He lightly tapped the paper on a finger as he walked along. Trying to find the apartment that belonged to Rei Ayanami. The first child.

He eventually hit the 400's, coming up to door number 402. As he came up to Rei's apartment, he noted the sound of electrical equipment dying once more around Tokyo-3. Ro softly sighed, putting his hands on his hips.

"Guess they finally got around to switching out the engine for the mains." He noted.

He knocked on the metal door a couple of times. Putting his ear to the door to listen and heard nothing. He stood up and pushed the school papers into the letterbox before walking off.  
As he was walking away and about to put his headphones on, he heard the sound of the metal door creaking and opening. He turned to satisfy his curiosity. Standing outside of the open metal door to the apartment apartment was Rei Ayanami herself. She was bending over to pick up the papers, she was wearing a large shirt and not much else, standing up to read the papers that had been he had put through the letterbox.

"Umm..." Ro said before coughing to get her attention.

She turned her head and looked at him silently.

"Ummmmm, those papers are for you from school. Be sure to fill them out when you get back." Ro said.

Rei didn't say anything, she slowly turned her back to him and opened the door wider and walked in, letting the door close behind her. Ro peered inside the apartment for a few moments before the door closed on him. From what he saw, it was... metallic, hollow. It barely resembled a living space. More like a cell with the walls bare from anything, not even wallpaper.

Ro stood up and slowly walked off, even he had personalised his sleeping space with things to remind him of home and such. And yet Rei Ayanami had nothing. Just a bed, basic kitchen and shower from the looks of it.

He put the earphones from his media player into his ears as he walked off. Listening to some modern rock music.

* * *

Ro dropped his jacket and media player onto the bunk bed, pulling out the case that carried the AA12, which he had nicknamed Ripper, and took out a set of tools. Slowly taking the automatic shotgun apart and began to clean up the various parts inside. The lighting of the room was more than enough for him to work with.

He worked in silence, the faint sound of music still playing on the media player. Evening in times of rest, Ro found that had to do something to pass the time. To stave off boredom. As he worked, he thought back to Rei's apartment. What he'd seen was an empty room that had a bed and a drawer. Basic kitchen tools and probably a working shower and toilet. He tried to wrap his head around the concept of not doing anything. With nothing to do but just sit there. What could a person honestly do with themselves in such a devoid room with nothing to do. He didn't even see a table, how was she suppose to work on those school papers? Sitting on the floor?

As he pondered, he soon found his body and hands were working by themselves. Working on the pattern of cleaning the parts, like as if his body was on auto-pilot. His mind came out of questioning things and he was soon back in manual control. Finding that the work was practically done. He assembled the weapon together just as easily as he took it apart. Snapping the large parts together and securing them tightly.

As Ro was about to put Ripper back into the case, he noted a few unusual sounds outside. He put Ripper back into the case and carried it with him as he walked out of the room and looked down the corridors. At the end of the corridors, he noticed two individuals that didn't seem right. They were hunched over, whispering. They sneaked about instead of walking straight. Ro slowly lowered himself and followed them silently. Making sure his case carrying his weapon didn't make a noise by hitting anything.

Despite it being mid-afternoon, the base was surprisingly quiet and devoid of other personnel. The route the two individuals took was also one that was often less travelled by the staff. Ro kept himself hidden around corners, making sure he wasn't seen and treading carefully behind him. His heart thumped in his chest from the anticipation and the fear of being discovered.

As he tailed them. He noted that one was carrying a backpack of some kind. The other carried a small weapon in his hands. But he couldn't tell what it was as the weapon holder had the weapon in front of them most of the time.

Eventually the two of them approached the car park. Ro carefully spied on them both. The weapon holder was a man and ordered the backpack person to wait. As the man walked off, Ro slowly began to sneak up on the guy. Who instead of staying still, turned around and saw Ro approaching him. Ro swung the case through the air and the narrow edge of the case hit the man on the side of his head. Making him fall to the floor with a loud thump. Ro took out Ripper, slid a magazine in and looked out.

The guy with the weapon in his hand was sneaking along, he hadn't noticed his friend was out cold on the floor. Ro carried the case in one hand, Ripper in the other and snuck into the car park. He took cover behind a Renault Alpine A310, which he recognized as being Misato's car from the license plate. That and the thing was an old car from the 1980's that was the only one of its kind in the car park.

The other noticeable vehicle was a tank that had somehow been parked. Ro could see the impression the tank treads had made on the concrete with its weight. Misato was standing by the tank, studying some section of the tank that eluded his view. The guy raised his gun as he managed to catch Misato unaware of his presence. Ro moved the side, kneeling quietly and aiming his weapon at the guy. If the maintenance was as good as he thought, the aim wouldn't be off and he wouldn't hit Misato.

His eyes studied the man's body for any kind of sign to take a shot. His vision scrutinized every aspect, including the finger tensing up on the trigger.

Ro pulled the trigger first. His mind going on instinct and his index finger twitching on impulse. The shot rang out and hit the guy square in the right side, dropping him instantly. Misato turned and saw the guy on the floor, before turning to the source of the shot.

Ro slowly stood up from his kneeling position, lowering his newly fired AA12. He took the strap and slung it over his shoulder as he slowly approached Misato. The dropped guy didn't move or even twitch.

"What are you even doing here Misato? This isn't usual, even for you and who the heck are these guys?" Ro questioned.

"Our intelligence branch was informed of an incursion on the American base. I was ordered to come here to pick you up and to take you to a secure location."

"Well screw that. I'm not exactly wanting to leave this base now that you've said that. How'd these guys get into a secure facility anyway? Especially with no alarms going off."

"That's a good question. I was looking over that old Type-90 tank the JSSDF used to use when they ambushed me. It looks like it's been recently used as well."

"Well, we have a tank. That's a start I guess."

"And its gonna be our ticket out of here. If it is their vehicle. We can use it to catch any other suspects by surprise."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Who said anything about we?"

"You know a safer place to hide in until we can get you to safety?"

"How are we gonna drive it? We don't have the keys to the start it or anything!" Ro exclaimed.

Misato peered into the driver's hatch of the tank, noting something. "These guys hot-wired the tank controls, this tank is ready to go. Come on, time is of the essence."

Ro huffed for a moment, thinking for a second before finally relenting. "Alright."

Ro slipped into the top hatch of the tank, bringing the case that carried his AA12 along with him. Just for personal protection. He sat the case down and looked around the cramped interior of the tank.

"Ro. I need you to drive the tank while I try to establish communications with NERV headquarters. They need to be alerted." Misato said as she slipped into the Commander's chair that was situated at the turret of the tank. She pulled the hatch down on top of her head.

"What? Me? Driving?! What kind of crazy idea is that? I mean, I know you come up with some crazy ideas. But that takes the cake!" Ro exclaimed in disbelief.

"No time to argue, just do it!" Misato ordered as she started to punch in codes into the communication system.

Ro put his hands up in disbelieve and hastily sat in the driver's seat. Putting the seatbelt on and looked over the entire set up. The seat was too big, his feet could barely touch the paddles and his reach of the round steering wheel was just within his grasp.

"Misato, how do I get this hunk of junk to move?" Ro cried out.

" Left paddle to go, right peddle to brake, gear shaft on your right. Steering wheel ahead." Misato said as she typed away the frequency to NERV Headquarters.

"Right, should be easy enough I suppose."

Ro pulled the gear shaft back all the way and slammed in the left pedal. The tank lurched backward with a loud roar and slammed its rear into the wall. Making a large dent from the impression left behind.

"Gear shaft forward! Marked with a D!" Misato shouted.

"Sorry! Right, D for Drive." Ro said to himself as he watched the gear shaft as he moved it forward and locked it into D.

The tank lurched forward this time, Ro took hold of the steering wheel and turned it to the right, straining as it took a bit of effort to turn.

"God! Can't this thing have a joystick? Or an analog stick or a D-pad or something?" Ro complained as he struggled with the wheel.

"Watch the car! Watch the car!" Misato warned.

Ro tried his best to turn sharply, but the tank was too slow. The tank treads pressed down into the front of Misato's car, crushing the front engine and shattering the front windscreen.

"Will you learn to drive straight Ro?!" Misato barked.

"I'm an Evangelion pilot! Not a tank driver! Cut me some slack!" Ro shouted back as he tried to make the tank straighten up before it hit the wall on the right side. The main barrel bent at the base as the turret was slow to move in line with the main body. Eventually Misato managed to realign the turret with the body as the tank entered into a tunnel that ran at an almost forty five degree angle upwards to the right. Ro turned to the right and headed upwards as Misato tried to get the radio working.

* * *

A few minutes later, Misato had informed NERV Headquarters of the situation as the tank rolled out of the tunnel and into the clearing, the mid afternoon air gently blowing through the streets. Misato told Ro to slow the tank to a stop and then swapped places with him. Ro took Misato's place in the Commander's chair. Misato started the tank again and rolled through the vehicle barricade at the checkpoint that normally stops small cars. In the sky overhead were four VTOL's. Each one had a cable that connected to a blooded pouch that contained a large humanoid figure. Ro heard the noise of the VTOL's and pushed the top hatch open with a lot of effort, the steel hatch was heavy and took a few tries to get it open. Once Ro opened the hatch, he stared at the figure held by the VTOL's. It was an Evangelion, Unit-06 to be precise.

"That's my Evangelion! Their stealing my Evangelion!" Ro shouted as he sat down.

"We can't do much to stop them, the main cannon is busted thanks to your driving!" Misato said as she drove.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Ro said angrily.

Ro pulled out the large metallic case and opened it. He pulled "Ripper" out. He searched the magazines that were within the case. Looking into the magazine and looking at the ammunition inside.

"Red tip... No. Green tip? Perfect." Ro muttered to himself.

"What are you doing?" Misato shouted.

"Just drive straight please!" Ro shouted.

Ro slid the magazine into the AA12, pulling the slider back and locking it. He then knelt on top of the chair.  
The wind blew into Ro's face as Misato shifted the tank into a higher gear in order to be able to catch up to the VTOLs. He aimed the AA12, fighting the wind as he did.

He let off a shot towards the side engine of the VTOL on the forward left side of the Evangelion, the round flew through the air but failed to hit its target, clipping the rear tail in the edge with an explosion.

Ro corrected his aim, aiming to the nose, he closed his left eye since the wind was blowing into his face and he let off another shot from his weapon.

The explosive round hit the engine, blowing a small hole into it, the left side of the VTOL lowered a bit. Ro fired twice more, hitting the internal engine with the explosive rounds. Causing the engine to year apart inside and fail, the VTOL leaned to the left and rolled to the ground, slamming into the ground, dragging the cable with it. It snapped under the stress and part of Unit-06 hung out of the pouch.

Ro aimed for the nose of the next VTOL that held to the forward right side of the pouch, taking a shot.  
The change in distance was enough the rear tail was hit with the explosive round, shaking a bit.  
Ro compensated and aimed ahead of the aerial vehicle. Keeping his arms locked to fight the wind. He took another shot. Hitting the body behind the engine.  
He cursed as he moved the barrel forward ahead of the aerial vehicle, taking a shot, it hit the engine, making it wobbled. Ro squeezed the trigger twice more, blowing a bigger hole into the engine and destroying the insides, it lost altitude and careened into the buildings below. The cable snapping.  
The pouched opened up and Unit-06 fell into the buildings, collapsing like a dead weight, crushing the structures as it landed head first before the body and legs landed sharply afterwards.

"Fuck yeah!" Ro yelled as the remaining VTOLs picked up pace and flew off, having lost their cargo. Ro slipped down into the chair, pulling the hatch down.

"Misato! Evangelion is secured for the moment, think you can radio in support to help keep it secure this time?" Ro asked.

"We can try." Misato said as she slowed the tank down. "For now, let's get to Matsushiro Base, that's the most likely target if they plan to do anything."

* * *

"Reports are coming in that Unit-06 was nearly taken by an unknown party. Colonel Katsuragi is requesting support to deal with the rest of the suspects." Makoto said as he put the phone down.

"Grant her request. What about the rest of the Evangelions? Are they safe?" Felia asked.

"Their safe in their cages. No-one's tried to make an attempt on them." Makoto reported.

"And how are the security arrangements?" Felia asked.

"We've got everything in the Geofront locked down for now. All hands are reporting in." Shigeru stated.

"Good. Keep me updated."

The lights in the Command Center suddenly flickered, making everyone pause for a moment.

"What was that?" Felia asked.

"Not sure. Might be a power surge if some kind." Shigeru said as he looked into the possible cause on his keyboard.

"Ummm ma'am?" Maya asked. "Melchior's doing some unusual activity."

"What's Melchior doing Lieutenant?" Felia said as she came to Maya's console.

"It's making information requests. A lot of them." She said as the information requests blitzed across the screen at an alarming.

"That isn't right." Felia said as she looked up at the main screen, the algorithm integration was at thirty three percent. She turned to Maya. "Shut Melchior down."

Maya typed in the commands to shut Melchio down. But the request was denied. She tried again and the same thing happened. She typed in a few more root commands, trying to shut it down. Each time being refused with the same tone.

"I can't. Melchior refuses to be shut down." Maya said.

"Sever the physical connections between the MAGI Lieutenant." Felia ordered.

Maya typed in the commands on her keyboard. By now Ritsuko had joined Felia's side to see what was going on. Maya turned to them both with an alarmed face. "We can't, the physical connections are being sealed. The crew teams can't get access."

"What?"

"Bakelite is being deployed. It's flooding the access points!" Shigeru stated from his console.

"Get the crew teams out of there!" Felia ordered.

"We can't! Melchior's taking over the shut down procedure! Their shut in!"

"Keep trying! Use the skeleton keys to override Melchior!" Ritsuko said.

Shigeru and Makoto typed away furiously at their keyboards, but even the skeleton keys that were designed specifically to override the MAGI's control was rejected.

"Access points have been completely flooded with Bakelite! No response from the crew teams!" Maya reported.

" Verdammt!" Felia cursed in German. "Switch to the manual override! Shut down the MAGI system at the power supply!"

The three technicians all took out a key and quickly slid them into the keyhole that dictated the power going to each of the MAGI super computers.

"On the count of three. One!" Shigeru started.

"Two!" Makoto followed.

"Three!" Shouted Maya.

The three technicians turned their keys in unison. The klaxons kept going, nothing shut down as they had expected. The technicians looked at each other in realisation before getting back to their keyboards.

"We can't shut it down!" Makoto shouted as they tried to slow down Melchior.

**Special authorisation code from Melchior: 23-20-6 has been submitted. Independent auto self-destruct of Melchior has been initiated.**

As the announcement came, Melchior flashed red and the request was put through almost instantly. The request was instantly denied, Melchior was placed into a short loop of rejection as the other two MAGI's flashed blue.

**Overruled! Overruled! Overruled! Code: 15-13-7-23-20-6 has been given by Casper and Balthazar.**

The announcement over the command being overridden breathed a momentary breath of relief. A second warning suddenly blurted out as rectangular sections of Balthazar began to turn red like a creeping wave, quickly overcoming Balthazar.

"It's hacking into Balthazar!" Shigeru shouted.

"How is that possible? The MAGI can't be hacked!" Felia shouted, looking at Shigeru's console.

"Melchior is hacking Balthazar, it's using the security codes to gain access!" Makoto stated.

"Melchior has taken over twenty give present of Balthazar!" Maya shouted.

"Boost Balthazar's defences!" Felia ordered.

"We can't! Balthazar is refusing to accept any high-level commands!" Makoto stated.

"Melchior's taken over fifty percent of Balthazar!" Maya said.

Ritsuko squinted her eyes as she realised what needed to be doing.

"Lock out Casper and boost its defences! Under-clock Balthazar's CPU frequency to 100 MHz!"

The technicians inputted in the commands and the klaxons stopped. The red sections of Balthazar beeped slowly. But still kept progressing at a slow rate. The Commander Center staff held their breath for a few moments, the tension was high as they looked at the screen wondering. Eventually Felia finally began to ask.

"How much time did we buy?"

"A couple of hours. I think." Shigeru answered.

Hugs let out a loud sigh as he slumped into his chair. Everyone else took a silent breath to relax. Felia hung her head as she held onto Shigeru's chair.

"Better question is. What's gotten into Melchior?"

* * *

As the Command staff walked into the room, Felia was sitting on the most prominent chair, elbows resting on the lit table, her lips resting on her hands as the fingers were intertwined. The light from the table lit her face from underneath. She had taken her jacket off, laying it on the back of her chair. Her face carried a foul expression on it. She was clearly not happy about the whole situation.

"Tell me you have some good news." Felia said sternly.

The staff paused for a moment. Wondering how to present the news to Felia. Who's cold and stern expression was putting a fair amount of fear in them. This wasn't the nice Felia they knew this morning.  
Ritsuko was the one to eventually step forward. She approached the table with a series of documents and folders.

From what we've been able to determine from Casper. Melchior was hacked and has been trying to copy the information from all three MAGI to an unknown destination before initiating its self destruct mechanism.

"So did we get a trace on who did this to Melchior?"

"The commands came from within Melchior. The only other piece of evidence I can give is that the algorithm integration has remained at thirty three percent since Melchior was taken over. Which means..."

"I know what it means." Felia interrupted. She pondered and lowered her hands, her face twisting into a mixture of angry of rage.

"Sons of bitches!" Felia yelled as she slammed her fist into the table, cracking the screen a bit from the impact. "How the hell did we miss this?!"

"That's the problem. Whatever has taken over Melchior has been changing its programming appearance and it's working so fast we can't keep up with it."

"Alright. Let me think for a moment." Felia said, pondering.

"Ma'am?" Maya enquired.

Felia looked up at Maya. "Yes Lieutenant?"

Maya approached the table by Ritsuko's side. "While I've been working with Dr Akagi. I did brush up on various ways computer systems could be hacked, to learn how to protect against them. And I noticed that Melchior was putting in a lot of information requests before it initiated its self destruct mechanism. I think this is a data mining virus with a data erasure command."

"Alright, let's assume your right Lieutenant. What are our odds? And how does it affect this facility?"

"Given the speed that the virus spread through the Melchior system, the security protocols we've got in place are barely going to slow it down. We have about 2 hours of remaining time before Balthazar is under Melchior's control. At that point, Casper won't be able to delay them for long after that."

Once Casper has been taken over, the auto self destruct will initiate and it can't be overwritten, it'll take out NERV Headquarters.

Taking out NERV HQ. That sounds pretty extreme, even for a simple data mining virus." Felia said, she looked up at Ritsuko and Maya. "So what can we do?"

"I said before, this virus keeps mutating and evolving, but we do have a plan. We're gonna input a piece of code into the MAGI and let the virus absorb that code."

"So by controlling the evolution of the virus, we can steer it into... What exactly?" Felia asked.

"We'll force it to evolve and initiate its own self destruct code, without damaging the MAGI as a result." Ritsuko said. "If the plan fails, we may be looking at the destruction of the MAGI, possibly the facility. We do still have the back up from Matsushiro Base if that happens."

"Let's hope that doesn't become the case. We don't need this right now. How much time do you need to make the code?" Felia asked.

"I can have it ready in a couple of hours."

Felia looked over the digital display of the MAGI system on the table. "Do it, take all the staff you need."

* * *

"Ma'am, how are we gonna make such a code in less than two hours?" Maya asked as she trailed behind.

"There is still one thing that we have up our sleeve Maya. We have Casper." Ritsuko said as she knelt down in front of Casper, opening a panel and pushing on a button.

The entire tower that held Casper rose up slowly. Showing the same rusted piping as the other two towers. When it finished and locked into place, a large vent cover could be seen on the front side of the tower. Ritsuko unscrewed the panel at the four corners and took the vent cover off, looking inside.  
It was a crawl space that was big enough for her to crawl in. She took a keyboard and monitor and crawled into the passageway through Casper.  
As Ritsuko did this, Maya examined the inside of the crawl space. Noting the various dust covered notes that had been stuck to various pipes. Each showing coding that Maya knew some bits and pieces. But the rest was far advanced from anything she'd seen.

"Are these notes?" Maya said, taking one of the sticky notes off a pipe and studying it.

"Yes. My mother developed the MAGI system. This is her work. We're gonna use her notes to develop the kill code." Ritsuko answered as she crawled deeper into the heart of Casper.

"Oh wow, this is in INT-C! These are the root commands for the MAGI!" Maya exclaimed as she studied the hand written note.

"That's right. This virus was developed on algorithms made to run the MAGI. We'll use the base coding of the MAGI to access the root commands of the virus to shut it down."

Ritsuko saw a note at the far end. She slowly picked it off the pipe. The old glue was a little tough but it eventually yielded. It was exactly what she had been looking for. The root commands that enabled the creation and deletion of an algorithm based program. Along with the image of a cat, written out like she used to in basic notepad application. She looked up as the spherical panel above her, the word CASPER was written on it in clear black letters.

"Thanks mom. Even after all these years your still taking me to school."

* * *

Matsushiro Base was on high alert with blaring klaxons when Misato and Ro arrived in the tank. A moped carrying two people speed off through the front gates with guards chasing after them. Misato put the brakes on and lifted the driver hatch.

"What's going on?" Misato asked a guard.

"Those two just stole data from the MAGI backup that was stored here Colonel." A guard said as the others chased the moped around the corner.

"Misato. I've got an idea! But we have to do it quickly!" Ro shouted from the other hatch as he lifted it slightly, shouting through the small gap.

The moped speed around the corner, quickly losing the guards and racing away from a wall that separated the base from the outside world. The two individuals celebrated their victory, giving each other a high five. The passenger sitting at the back opened up the backpack of the driver and stuffed a large hard drive into the backpack.

Suddenly from behind came a loud crash as bricks flew forward, bouncing along the road and pavement, dust blew up as the wall crumbled. The roar of tank treads came through before the tank ploughed through the dust at high speed. Chasing after the two on the moped. Who looked back with a very surprised look on their faces. Behind the tank were a couple of security cars.

Ro lifted the hatch slowly, Misato was at the wheel, driving the tank thundering behind the moped.  
The passenger on the moped tapped on the driver's left shoulder and it turned into a narrow alleyway.  
The tank slowed down at the entrance, letting Ro peer down the alleyway. He pulled Ripper out of the hatch and slammed in a magazine filled with red shells, he pulled the slider back and locked it before he aimed down the sights, taking a few seconds to adjust his aiming for the rear wheel.

He let off two shots, the cartridges flying to the side as they were ejected, the shots flew into the rear wheel, bursting it and made the whole moped wobble. The driver tried to compensate but eventually he lost control and both the driver and the passenger were sent flying at top speed along the dirty alleyway.

Ro slipped out of the hatch, getting out of the tank and jumping down onto the concrete floor, he ran along the alley towards the two, his AA12, Ripper, held tightly in his hands.  
Misato was quick to follow him, opening the driver's hatch and getting out quickly. She pulled out her security issued 9mm handgun from underneath her jacket, holding it downward as she ran and joined Ro relatively quickly.

Ro was kneeling by one of them, the driver, taking his backpack off and taking the device out of the backpack, handing it to Misato.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Looks like a hard drive. Must be the data they snatched." Misato said as she examined it.

The guards from the base finally caught up to them, they surrounded the group and pointed guns at the two moped riders. Ro finally stood up as the two were unmasked. Showing that they were definitely Asian. Over the cries of pain from the injuries that they had gotten from their crash, the sound of an ambulance could be heard.

* * *

Maya sat next to Ritsuko and typed away at her keyboard. She had been the only one Ritsuko had requested for the programming of the code and the only one who had the kind of programming experience. They had been huddled together for the past two hours, typing away on separate keyboards and studying the notes from Ritsuko's mother. Maya had a slight headache from all of the information she had to absorb in such a short amount of time, but she had carried on. Sat on her cat pillow as she typed away, her speed was still slower to Ritsuko, but it was certainly faster than she was capable of earlier this morning. As Maya worked on compiling the delivery system for the code, Ritsuko was busy with a hand held circular saw, cutting into the spherical plate that held CASPER, cutting a square into it before slowly prying the metal away with her fingers, grunting as she pulled and placed the heavy metal plate onto the floor beside her leg.

On the underneath of the metal was a brain that had several connection holes inside of it, Maya took a moment to look at it.

"What is that?" Maya asked.

"That is the core of CASPER. The seventh generation computing system my mother developed. Each of the MAGI has this." Ritsuko answered.

"It's incredible. To have developed this system. You must have been very proud Dr Akagi."

Rtisuko picked up a few cables, searching the right one to insert first. "To be honest, I never really liked my mother. She indulged herself obsessively into her work. Even going so far as to be the one to originally develop and be the first person for the personality transplant operating system that the MAGI and the Evangelions run on."

"You mean her personality was transplanted into the MAGI?" Maya asked.

"That's right. The MAGI are in a very real sense, my mother." Ritsuko said as she slid the connection into one of the ports in CASPER.

The last few sections of Balthazar were taken over and Casper now began to suffer the same fate. The security barriers barely slowing down the hacking attempt by Balthazar.

"It starting! Balthazar is taking over Casper!" Makoto shouted.

Between Makoto and Shigeru stood Felia, one hand inside of a pocket. She looked up at the main screen with a determined look on her face.

**MAGI automated self destruct has been determined. MAGI automate self destruct will initiate 2 seconds after consent by all three MAGI.**

Inside Casper, Ritsuko rushed to push the rest of the cables into Casper in the right order and began to quickly type into the keyboard on her lap along with Maya.

"Maya! How are we doing on time?!" Ritsuko asked.

"We have one second to spare!" Maya responded.

"That's not a zero or a minus!" Ritsuko said as she typed furiously.

The seconds counted down as Casper was taken over, whole sections at a time. The red lights quickly spreading along the image of Casper as the barriers fell and crumpled before Balthazar's hacking.

"Now!" Ritsuko shouted.

Both women slammed their index finger on the enter key simultaneously and everything fell into dead silence. The hum of the MAGI was all that surrounded Ritsuko and Maya. A single drop of sweat trickled down Ritsuko's brow and onto the tip of her nose as she held her breath.

The droplet eventually detached and fell on the space bar of the keyboard on Ritsuko's lap.

On the main screen. One tiny section of Casper beeped blue for a few agonizing moment before blue swept across Casper, then Balthazar and finally over Melchior.

**Automated self destruct has been cancelled. Repeat. Automated self destruct had been cancelled. Now returning all MAGI systems to normal mode.**

Ritsuko and Maya sighed in huge relief and slumped back against the pipes, the lights above them showing there were droplets of sweat coming down Ritsuko's face as she relaxed.

* * *

In the briefing room, Ritsuko sat in front of Felia, who sat there with a bandaged hand, the broken glass had cut her hand when she slammed it into the glass table earlier. The report was laid out on the digital display between the two of them. Showing Felia the details of the virus that had hit Melchior and the fatalities of the crew team that had tried to physically cut off Melchior. Sat next to Felia were several empty cups of coffee. She was holding onto one warm cup in her good hand.

"This is a disaster." Felia said in a defeated tone.

"Yes and NERV Headquarters was nearly destroyed as a result. And we found the root of the problem as well."

"Show me." Felia looked up sternly.

Ritsuko pulled up the Chinese algorithm card. Placing it on the lit table. Felia looked at the offending card with disdain. Taking a swing of her coffee.

"We've studied the patterns of the virus within the algorithms in a quarantined environment and looking into what files it was searching for. The information gathered suggests that the attack was an attempt to uncover the methods of Evangelion production and was looking into specifics on ways to halt the process. The dating of the code seems to suggest this attack was something they had planned far in advance. Well over a year ago." Ritsuko explained.

"So they planned this from the last MAGI maintenance. How the hell did the Chinese manage to sneak a virus into the algorithms without anyone knowing about it for a year?" Felia asked.

"It was a variation of a Logic Bomb virus. The algorithm integration was the fuse for the virus' activation protocol."

"Do we know who exactly within China made this virus or why they wanted this information?"

Ritsuko brought up the information about the arrested suspects. "Ro and Misato's capture of the two individuals that assaulted Matsushiro Base so far hasn't revealed much, but the hard drive that was stolen has been returned. The individuals that survived the impacts of the two VTOLs that tried to airlift Unit-06 are still in surgery. The remaining VTOL's were found abandoned and no clues have been left behind. The ones we've captured all appear to be of Asian descent. Most likely they are Chinese as well."

"Why would the Chinese try to sabotage NERV? It doesn't make sense." Felia said, shaking her head.

"We don't know either. But if the rumours about Unit-05 are to be believed, they were behind the incident that lead to Unit-05's destruction." Ritsuko said.

Felia seemed to look past the mention of the incident at Bethany Base with Unit-05. She diverted her eyes to the digital display and took another gulp of the lukewarm coffee that was slowly getting cooler the more she drank.

"Still playing the Cold War game. I'll have to make a few phone calls and see if there is anything the IPEA can do to investigate the Chinese in further detail." Felia said.

There was a pause and Felia sighed. "In the mean time Dr Akagi. I wanted to ask you a big favour."

"What is it?" Ritsuko asked.

"Since Commander Ikari is about to arrive and I know your very protective of the MAGI. I want ask you to pass the information concerning the MAGI being compromised only to me. I don't want Commander Ikari finding out about this. Keep the information about our recovery of Unit-06 in the final report. If anyone asks, the only information I want others to know that was stolen was from Matsushiro Base where they forcibly removed the hard drive during the assault."

Ritsuko looked down, her brow lowered. "That is just to save face and you know it."

"Of course it is. Ikari would chew my ass off if he found out. Anyone who has an eye on NERV and the MAGI shouldn't know the MAGI can be compromised by a bunch of civvies. We have a reputation to consider. I'm just asking this once Ritsuko. Please? Will you do this for me?" Felia said.

"I understand. I'll redact the information from the official report and supply it directly to you." Ritsuko said.

"Thank you. When the Commander gets here, I'll pass on any security upgrades needed to keep anything like earlier from happening again, I'll state that it will be purely for precautions sake. Please let me know if there is anything you need to make it happen."

"Of course." Ritsuko said.

"Good, dismissed." Felia said quietly.

Ritsuko stood up from her seat and walked out of the briefing room. Felia took a big breath and sighed. Taking another mouthful of coffee.

"This is going to complicate things." She muttered to herself quietly. "Mari's project will have to be suspended until things calm down."

* * *

Matsushiro Base on the inside was just like NERV Headquarters. The corridor layout and the Command Center were the same, it even had a briefing room. One that Ro was following Misato to. She stepped into the doorway but stopped just short. Inside were technicians that were busy trying to context NERV Headquarters.

"I'm sorry Ro. But I can't let you into the briefing room. I need to co-ordinate with the rest of the staff on what's happened." Misato said before closing the door.

Ro's voice could be heard from the other side of the door. Muffled by the thick steel separating the room from him. "Oh! That's great! No thanks to Ro Sohryu! No "thank you for surviving your first day in a tank Ro Sohryu"! No "Good job on making sure the Evas weren't stolen Ro Sohryu"! Huh?! This is the thanks I get?! No thank you for all of the hard work and possibly getting killed?!"

Misato opened the door a bit. Inside Ro could see Felia talking with Commander Ikari and bowing apologetically every few seconds.

"Thank you, Ro Sohryu." Misato said.

She closed the door quickly after that. Ro stood for a few seconds pondering. He got thanked and he felt a bit chuffed about that.

"You're welcome!" He shouted.

* * *

Kane sat on the bed in his cell. It was dark, cold and lonely. The ragged scarf around his neck hung loosely. His hands together, resting on his lap with his fingers intertwined, the white collar of his priesthood had been readjusted back into place despite the grimy smudges on it. His eyes were closed and his lips moving as he murmured. He was praying silently. The bible sat next to him.

He prayed for his daughter, prayed that she would see reason in everything he had done. Prayed that she would leave.  
The divine intervention he had been given had warned him of this. Warned him about the threat that imposed on his daughter's life. And she was careening straight into it.  
He prayed to God himself for guidance. He needed to know what he could do to change things from the way they were.

As he prayed, he felt a sense of comfort in his faith, the warmth and the touch of a divine hand resting on his head.

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers:

Yes I know this chapter is late by a week. But this chapter has taken a lot of work to get done.

I'm tired.

My brain hurts.

Its oozing out of my ears right now.

Every chapter will generally be released every 1-2 weeks. So come back for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion!


	6. Chapter 6

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 06:**

**Part 1: Silentium**

Ro sat alone in the black room. The only things that shone any kind of light was the table before him. It wasn't bright enough to make him squint, but he could see enough. The room's darkness made him uneasy, he couldn't make out the edges of the room. It was a little disorientating.  
Splayed out in different parts was his AA12. Dismantled with the firing mechanism removed and placed into a glass case so Ro could touch it. Beside the parts of the weapon were the magazines with the ammunition removed.  
The door ahead if him opened and two agents in suits sat opposite him. They were built, square jawed with black sunglasses. The typical kind of security agent that he had dealt with before.

"You know why we're here." The agent on the right to Ro spoke.

"Yeah well. Don't suppose I can have my gun back?" Ro asked.

"That's not an option. You've damaged two VTOLs and killed a man with this weapon. You don't have a proper weapons license to even carry this weapon." The first agent said.

"But I did the right thing." Ro said, leaning forward onto the table.

"Even doing the right thing has its consequences. We might've overlooked this if you had regular ammunition. But the explosive ammunition that you carried and used has forced our hand. Until further notice. Your weapon will be confiscated." The second agent stated calmly.

Ro leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms. "This is bullshit."

The second agent carefully took the dismantled parts from the table and left the room. The first agent followed him, but stopped at the door frame and turned back to Ro.

"For what it's worth. You did good. But there are laws for a reason. I hope you understand." The agent said.

Ro didn't respond, too angry to speak to the man. The agent turned and left the room. Leaving Ro to seethe in anger alone.

* * *

The pop of the beer can. The taste of alcohol. The sensation of the cold liquid going down the throat, the sounds of gulping and finally the head tilt back until everything in the can was gone.

"Yyyyeeeeeee-hhhaaaaaawwww!" Misato yelled at the top of her lungs before burping loudly.

"Ah! That's the way to start your morning!"

Every morning had been like this in Misato's apartment. It had become the normal routine for Misato even after Asuka's arrival. The table was filled with everyone's breakfast, divided into three since Pen Pen ate his fish silently on the floor beside Shinji as he had his toast. Misato's section was filled with paperwork and the usual assortment of cans and bottles. Most of which were alcohol based. Asuka was in her usual routine of taking a shower before her meal. Even in the morning, Asuka's temper was short.

"It's too HOT!" Was the exclamation from the shower room.

Yep. Just another typical morning in the apartment. Shinji bit into his toast in silence. The past couple of days had been relatively quiet on his front. Aside from the security scare that had taken place at NERV, school had gone by its own tedious place. Misato had been busy getting her car repaired after an accident of sorts. The cost of it had practically wiped out her bank account and it would still be a few weeks before it was fully fixed. Shinji had been rationing every ingredient he could to make everyone's meals so they could last until Misato's next pay check. In the meantime, Kaji had been delegated to picking up both of the Eva pilots for any journeys then needed. Shinji had enjoyed his occasional conversations with Kaji. Asuka, however, had buried herself into her handheld with headphones in her ears for the car journeys.

Shinji picked up his cup of coffee, drinking in the hot liquid to help with swallowing his toast while Misato was reaching for another can of alcohol. He sat his cup down. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try to change the routine a little bit.

"Misato, what's wrong with coffee?" Shinji asked.

"You got a problem with a traditional Japanese breakfast of steamed rice, miso soup and a little sake?" Misato said.

"Your traditional breakfast maybe. It wouldn't hurt to try and cook from fresh ingredients." Shinji said.

"Are you saying I'm lazy?" Misato asked drunkenly with an arched eyebrow.

"And sloppy too. Who's turn was it supposed to be to cook this morning?" He added.

"Oh shut up!" She huffed, turning her face away from him.

"You haven't changed Katsuragi. Leaving the household chores to the man of the house." Came a familiar voice from the hall.

"Oh! Good morning Mr Kaji." Shinji said, greeting Kaji as he walked into the kitchen.

"Ugh. Hello Kaji." Misato greeted with her usual distain.

"And still drinking alcohol at such an early hour. Feeling a down?" Kaji said with his smooth smile.

"I'll knock you down if you don't get out of my face." Misato said, banging her can on the table.

As the two adults continued their usual bicker, Kaji pressing Misato's buttons. Asuka stepped out of the shower room. Shinji looked at Asuka as she walked by, clad in her red towels. Steam rising up from her skin. She eventually noticed him.

"What?"

"Oh nothing! Your meals are ready and Mr Kaji is here." Shinji said with his hands up.

Asuka picked up the meal boxes the Shinji had made for her before interrupting Misato and Kaji's chat. "Mr Kaji. Could you drop me off at my friend Hikari's place today please?"

"Tell me where she lives and I'll send her flowers." Kaji said with a wink.

"We're just friends! I promised to hang out with her today!"

Misato tugged on Kaji's tie, bring her face close to his. "She's half your age mister. No funny business."

"Hey! I'm just willing to appreciate a woman's beauty." Kaji said with a smile. Putting up his hands defensively.

As Misato and Kaji began to bicker again, Asuka walked out of the kitchen with her meals in one hand, holding her towel up with the other, cursing in German with the occasional "Dummkopf" being spouted out from her lips. Shinji looked down at Pen Pen, shrugging his shoulders with the bird about what to do with all of this. It would definitely take a while before everyone was ready to head out.

* * *

Pixelated monsters fell in their droves as the clack of the plastic trigger snapping back rapidly filled the arcade, the slider on the top of the light gun quickly following every pull of the plastic trigger. Ro held the large plastic light gun in both hands, one hand on the bottom on handle, the other gripping the handle and rapidly pulling the trigger. The human shapes quickly fell as soon as they appeared. The occasional shout of "Reload!" was a regular sound effect from the arcade machine. Second only to the sound of virtual bullets flying.

Ro's face was concentrated. Eyes darting back and forth across from the screen. Quickly tracking targets with his hands moving quickly with reactive reflexes to fire bullets at the screen. He was in his own world at the moment.

"Hey man! Your shootings too aggressive! Chill!" A passerby said behind him.

Ro ignored him. His body working on automatic as his mind seethed with anger still. He hadn't been angry for this long for a very long time. The adrenaline was still pumping through him as one virtual enemy fell after another before him.

Eventually the game ended, Ro slumped over the dashboard, light gun in his hand as the credits played. He looked at the manager of the arcade, who was discussing with a member of staff about the other arcade machines, noting some slight damage that Ro had done to them as he had slammed his fists and feet into the controls, today was obviously not his day and Ro slammed the gun into the holster and walked off. He was feeling a bit hungry after barely eating for the past couple of hours. He was irritable. Normal annoyances were making him more angry, he walked out into the bright sunlight of Japan. Maybe he just needed some fresh air and some food to cool off.

* * *

The Geofront's lake shone as the bright lighting hit the water. Shinji stood up from the ground. The day hadn't been so much of the usual conversation so much as helping Kaji with his garden patch in the Geofront. Apparently it would be something different, a bit more variety that Shinji figured wouldn't be so bad to try. He brought his hand up to his face, dirt covered it from the weeding he had done.

"It smells fresh." Shinji said, remarking on the smell.

"Of course it does. Its home grown. Unlike a lot of things in this world." Kaji said as he worked on his patch.

Shinji looked at Kaji as he continued to work. "There's a sense of enjoyment when you make things or grow things in your garden. Nobody around here seems to appreciate the hard work some people put into their work. I'm come here to remind myself of that perspective. A very few people seem to honestly take enjoyment in the things others make. As for me.."

Kaji trailed off for a moment, standing up and leaned himself backwards, countering the time spent leaning forwards, his back creaked a little. He put his hands to the towel around his neck, looking at Shinji.

"...I appreciate the work people put into everyday things. Enjoying life for what it brings. I appreciate the melons that I've made as much as I appreciate Misato's own melons."

"That's... very open minded of you Mr Kaji." Shinji said.

"You could say that. When you go through the rough times like I have. You cling to those moments of brightness. Even though some slip from your fingers. You always keep searching. It's what makes us human. Why we're drawn together."

"So it helps you forget the bad times. The pain." Shinji said.

"Some see it like that. But from where I stand, you have to know pain to appreciate life. You need to know the bad to under the good. It's the way the world works. Yin and Yang. You can't have one without the other." Kaji said.

Shinji looked at Kaji, trying to take in all the philosophy that he was giving out.

"Shinji. There's no just good or just evil. Everyone is grey. But even through all the pain, you still protect Tokyo-3. You save the lives of everyone that lives here. That includes your classmates, your fellow teammates, the staff that work here, even me. Never shy away from pain Shinji. You work through it and make the world a better place."

Shinji stood silent as he took it all in, but it was interrupted by Kaji's phone ringing out of his back pocket. He took it out and read the message. "Looks like the man of the house is needed again. Misato's heading out tomorrow."

"Where's she heading out to?" Shinji asked.

"There's an event going on in Old Tokyo. She's asked for you to look after Pen Pen and Asuka while she's gone."

"Oh. Well I guess I better head back then." Shinji said, picking up his bag and starting to walk off.

"Hey Shinji." Kaji called out. Shinji stopped and turned back.

"Thanks for helping me out. But do me a favour would you?" He said.

"Umm sure. What is it?" Shinji asked.

"About Misato. Protect her for me. I can't always be there to look out for her. I want you to do it."

* * *

The sun was blazing hot as its rays feel down on Asuka as she walked with Hikari to a rural hut with the doorway filled with beads on strings, the sign above the doorway read "Hot Springs". Asuka had to raise her hand to block the sun's rays as she read the sign. She still had trouble reading the Kanji. But she was eventually getting used to it. But she wouldn't ever admit it to anyone the fact that she still needed help reading the damn language every now and then.

"Wow Hikari. I didn't think you'd be taking me to a hot spring." Asuka said as she looked sign.

"Yeah. I needed some time away from the family and a few friends from class recommend it. The temperature is just right to relax." Hikari said as she walked in.

"We'll see if it does. I'm holding you to your word." Asuka said as she walked in after Hikari. Pushing the beads to one side as she stepped in.

Hikari paid for the two of them to the woman behind the counter and showed Asuka the women's changing room. Where they put their clothes into piles in lockers and walked out to a private hot spring for women only in just the white towels they were wearing. Asuka relaxed a little, no perverted men in this section. She kept the relief quiet from Hikari. It was relatively quiet aside from the two of them. Asuka slipped into the warm water, keeping the towel on as she sat down. She sat back and sighed out in relief. The water was at just the right temperature. Hikari soon joined her, sitting by Asuka's side with her feet in the water. They sat there for a while, soaking in the feeling as the steam from the water rose.

"Hikari. You were right." Asuka said.

"About what Asuka?"

"Considering the showers I've been having lately I was expecting it to be a lot hotter than this. But the water's perfect." Asuka said with a smile.

Hikari smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

Hikari slowly slipped into the water and both girls took off the towels they had been wearing, laying them by the side before relaxing in the water, letting the water cover their chests. Asuka could feel the warm water slowly unwinding all of the knots she had in her muscles. Definitely not like Misato's place. She let out another sigh as she slowly slipped into the water.

"Asuka?"

Asuka opened one eye to look at Hikari. "Yeah?"

"I just wondered. How can you be so distant from everyone? I notice it alot at school. You generally tend to be by yourself."

Asuka closed her eyes and thought on it for a moment. "I've always had to rely on myself. It's the only way I can ever truly say I have done something worthwhile. I don't need anyone helping me."

"But if you're just by yourself, your never gonna appreciate having friends and doing things together. You can't always shut the world away." Hikari said.

"Mmmmmm maybe I'll just settle with you being my friend. As for the three stooges, those males are just plain stupid. Especially Stupid Shinji." Asuka said.

"I've been meaning to ask. How are you getting along with him?" Hikari asked.

Asuka sighed for a moment before answering. "I may work with him and live with him. But I don't like him or sleep with him if that's what you're asking."

"Oh no no! That's not what I'm asking at all!" Hikari said, waving her hands for a moment before calming down. "It's just, you don't seem to interact with him much, even as a work colleague."

Asuka sighed again. "Misato insists we need to communicate to work together. "

"Well he does seem to be getting along ok with Rei Ayanami." Hikari said.

"Stupid Shinji gets along with Wondergirl? What makes her so special anyway?" Asuka asked.

"I don't know. If you talked to him, maybe you could find out."

* * *

The afternoon sun bore down its orange rays across Tokyo-3. Turning the sky into a beautiful mix of purple and pinks. The city's solar collecting buildings slowly moving into the Geofront as the city began to slip into its night mode. Lights shone from natural lanterns and artificial light bulbs alike as the late afternoon slowly passed into evening night. The sun shone red as it slipped down from the horizon in the distance. Mari watched the birds fly through the air in perfect formation in the sky. Flying home to their nests. The chilly wind of the night time air washed through the last bits of warmth of the warm afternoon. She stood alone, taking in the sight and watching the city transform before her eyes. It was amazingly beautiful. The city was so full of life, even when the warmth of the sun was gone. Eventually she tuned in to the fact that someone was with her. Enjoying the view of the city from afar just as much as she was. She slowly turned her head to them. Seeing who it was. It was Mr Kaji. Standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Quite a beautiful view isn't it?" He asked.

Mari held on to the railing with one hand, looking back at the city. "I'm sorry about leaving that room. But it was so small and I had to get some fresh air."

Kaji stood beside her, looking at the city with her. "It's alright problem child. I can understand. NERV isn't looking for you anymore."

"Mmmmmm." Mari pondered for a moment before her eyes lit up. "I want to see the city. Let's go shopping."

"Sure. You need some new clothes, help you blend in a little more." Kaji said.

"Then it's a date!" Mari said, wrapping her arms around one of his.

* * *

Ro ate his noodles in silence in the training room. He wore his gym outfit with the bandages for his hands on either side, the picture of Gendo was heavily weathered by the constant punching. It was the only thing he could honestly focus on without anyone having a go at him for. The night had been boring since he had nothing much else to do. Inside of the facility the hours drifted by with no way of knowing the daylight hours. He heard the doorway open, he turned to look at who was in the doorway. The situation a couple of days ago had made him extra wary of his surroundings.

"Well? What do you think?"

Felia stood there in the door way wearing a black cocktail gown with lace that covered her collar bone, but not her shoulders. She wore black gloves that covered her hands, especially the injured one from a couple of days ago. On the top of her head she wore a large black hat, in one of her hands were her sunglasses. To completely the whole set, she wore black heels with no stockings or pantyhose. She was obviously dressing to impress.

"Looks nice." Ro muttered as he ate his noodles.

"Thank you." Felia smiled. Her watch beeped and she looked at it.

"Well I better get going." Felia said, picking up the suit case by her side.

"Where are you off to?" Ro asked.

"Old Tokyo. Apparently some big shot thinks he's got the next big thing since Gundam." Felia responded.

"You mean that stupid Japanese anime show they keep repeating with the McDonald's adverts?" Ro asked.

"Yep." Felia said, putting on her sunglasses.

"Heh. Don't make me laugh. Us pilots are doing the real deal. This guys is just too obsessed with his toys." Ro said, he pondered for a moment. "Maybe they should make an anime about us."

"I'm sure they will once you've won the war." Felia said.

"Assuming there is an end."

"There will be. Anyways, see you later." Felia said as she headed off.

"See yea sis."

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 06:**

**Part 2: Spera**

The NERV VTOL flew over the water towards Old Tokyo. It was a two hour journey. Thirty minutes for the take off procedures, an hour of flight time with about fifteen minutes expected for the landing and departure. The inside of the VTOL was surprisingly quiet, a gentle hum was all that was heard inside the aerial vehicle.

Felia opened her lips, biting down gently on the pen lid, making sure her lipstick wouldn't smudge on the red plastic. She pulled the pen out of the lid and put the red tip to the photocopy paper resting on her lap before her, circling a few faces, before moving up to the top, circling around face of the lead presenter of the Jet Alone Project. Slowly marking a red X on his face, she smiled and put the pen back into the lid. She smiled as she made one last check, nodding to herself before folding the photocopy a few times and put it into the breast pocket of her jacket.

She relaxed back into her seat. The journey wasn't too long and despite the cramped conditions of the seating in the VTOL, the passenger section was mostly empty aside from herself, Misato and Ritsuko.

"It's pretty hard to believe this used to be the center of Japan." Misato muttered to herself, looking out of the window.

Misato was right in her remark. Old Tokyo was certainly nothing like it used to be. Most of the old city had been destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth by the chaos of Second Impact. Resulting in massive patches of red water and shattered buildings. What had been rebuilt on top of the ruins nearby was a massive testing facility, each section of it was dedicated to testing out new technologies to improve the broken world. In the center was a large white dome. The place of the annual main event, where the scientists would meet, pitch their ideas and collaborate together.  
And where Felia often looked for new talent.  
It wasn't a secret among the regulars that would attend the event, most of the scientists there would often present their work in the vain attempt to catch Felia's attention. To scrape what funding they could. Felia picked what suited the IPEA best at the time.

The VTOL eventually landed close to the dome in its designated parking spot among the various helicopters that were landed. It seemed like they were actually late this time. That or everyone was early to expect them.

* * *

The presentations had so far been boring over the past couple of hours. Most were techno mumbo jumbo to Misato's ears as they discussed projects to clean up the environment and to assist in the ecology of the world. Currently it was on something about cybernetics or something else. Misato kept one of the bottles for employees of NERV close to her. Silently sucking on the alcohol inside with a straw. She held her chin in her hand, propping herself up as she looked at numbers and scientific calculations with half closed eyes. The table they were at was large like every other table. But with only three people at the table. It was wasted space. She turned her attention to Ritsuko, who was buried in her notes, no point in talking with her right now. Misato then turned her eyes to Felia, who's eyes were intently staring at the schematics. She was obviously pondering on something.

Eventually the presentation ended and the lights came on, everyone in the room clapped at the presenter, who was bowing with praise. Misato tried to hide a yawn as she clapped. Ritsuko and Felia's faces were blank as they clapped. But Felia was a bit more enthusiastic in her clapping. Eventually things died down and the presenter soon found himself surrounded by fellow colleges and interested parties from all sides. Felia stood up from her seat, adjusting her outfit.

"Where are you going Felia?" Misato asked, straw still in her mouth.

"I'm going to have a little chat with someone. Do excuse me." Felia said as she stood confidently into the pile of men.

She pushed her way through. Barging her way to the center to where the presenter, an old man late into his fifties, was standing. Causing quite a stir among the men around her as they soon realised she was homing in on him. She straightened her dress as she walked towards the old man.

"Mr Sankai?" She said clearly, gaining his attention and putting her hand forward. "I'm Felia Sohryu. I was quite interested in your cybernetics technology showcase. I was very interested in your theories about sensation feedback."

"Oh thank you Miss Sohryu. You've been the only one who's shown any real interest into that side of my technology. Most want it as an extension of their robotic creations." Mr Sankai said.

This caused a rumble around the group of men. Some even walked off as they knew they'd been too easily figured out. Felia kept her smile and stood firm.

"Well the IPEA and NERV would be very grateful to invest in your cybernetics research fully. We can supply you the research funds to apply your technology on a large and small scale." She said calmly.

"Ah yes. I had heard of the Evangelions from various colleges, but they are mechanical yes?"

"Not quite. They are bio-mechanical. There's a difference between the two."

"Indeed there is." Mr Sankai said. He pondered a moment. "You've caught my interest Miss Sohryu. How much would you be willing to include my services with yours?"

Felia pulled out a blank cheque, wrote down Mr Sankai's name and handed it to him. Smiling as she handed it to him. The men around the two gasped as if it was a golden ticket. This was how she recruited.

"As much as you like Mr Sankai. As much as you like."

* * *

Misato watched as Felia bounced from presenter to presenter, picking out selected individuals, talking among them. Warding off desperate men who pleaded for funding. Eventually a man stepped out to the standing on the grand stage and tapped on the microphone, giving a cough to gain everyone's attention. Felia took this as her sign to stop and walked back to the NERV table. Sitting back down. She drew out a small piece of paper, ticking on a few things and smiled, tucking it back into the same pocket. The man on the stage stood as the rest of the men flowed to their tables, some happy, others not. Eventually the room fell silent.

"Thank you all for coming to this event. I would like to thank my fellow colleagues in the presentations they have held today and wish the best in their endeavours in the future. I, of course, am Shiro Tokita. The project lead for the last presentation of today. We will shortly be heading over to the control room for a demonstration of our star attraction today. The Jet Alone project. The world's first fully autonomous mechanical creation. Does anyone have any questions?"

Instantly Ritsuko's hand shot up and she drawing the attention of the room. "Yes, I have a few questions."

"Ah the infamous Dr Ritsuko Akagi of NERV. It's an honour to have you here today." Tokita greeted.

Ritsuko was handed a microphone by one of the staff, holding it close to her face. "I have a concern with the projects main internal engine. Is it true that you are utilising a portable nuclear reactor for the engine?"

"Indeed it does Dr Akagi. The reactor allows the unit to operate for a lifetime of one hundred and fifty days before powering down."

"Isn't the idea of a nuclear reactor in a land based weapon designed for hand to hand combat a major concern if a technical fault with the system were to develop?" Ritsuko asked.

"I can assure you Dr Akagi that the Jet Alone unit is programmed for all possible contingencies and back-up systems. Which is more then I can say for NERV's Evangelion units which have an unpredictable nature due to the pilots."

"If I may speak?" Felia said, stepping up to Rtisuko's side and taking the microphone from Ritsuko's hand.

"Certainly Miss Sohryu. I'd love to hear the head of the IPEA's comments on the project." Tokita said.

"Thank you Mr Tokita." Felia moved to the front of the round table, leaning her rear onto it a bit, crossing one leg over the other.

"I was going over the initial briefing and I couldn't help but notice some fundamental flaws in the unit's construction. There's issues with mobility, there isn't a weapons platform for the unit to utilise at the moment so combat is clearly out of the picture for a few years and as Dr Akagi just pointed out, there is a nuclear reactor within the unit. How would you address such glaring issues Mr Tokita?"

Tokita cleared his throat, taking a sip of water before answering. "At the current moment in time we're working on the unit's artificial intelligence, its operational time and mobility. A weapon system hasn't yet been made but we're confident to have it ready within the next five years of development.

Felia pondered on Tokita's answer. "Mmmmmm Five years you say."

Felia stood up from the table and looked directly at Tokita in the eyes. "Let's take a look at the men that work here. Why Mr Sankai could easily apply his cybernetics research to improve any mobility issues, Mr Tanaka can assist with any weapon platforms the unit can use and the IPEA's new engine, which already as an operational time of eight continuous hours, could easily replace your rickety old nuclear reactor for a cleaner and less destructive alternative. Heck, it's been powering Tokyo-3 for the past few weeks as part of a test of its systems."

The crowd began to chat with themselves. The possibility of collaboration on par with Felia's suggestion began to surface. As well as the information about the new engine she was talking about. Ritsuko rose from her seat, stepping up to object and stop Felia, but Felia put her hand back and waved her back into her seat. This was her play.

"So, shall we see how your toy walks before we get technical with the specifics?" Felia said, pressing to stop Tokita from speaking a counter argument.

"Miss Sohryu. It seems your capable hands have managed to upstage this demonstration once more. I must applaud your brilliance. If only everyone in the IPEA and NERV had your level of intelligence." Tokita said with a sigh, putting on a brave face of praise.

* * *

As the clouds came over head, the tower that held Jet Alone split in two, exposed the mechanical unit. The two sections of the tower finally stop, metal loudly clanking into a locked position.

"Don't worry everyone. There is no risk at all. Jet Alone can work even in adverse conditions. Extend the control rods." Tokita ordered.

The rods appeared from the top of the backpack, extending upwards as two sets of four rods.

"Extend the remote control link."

The link was an antenna that extended between the two sets of rods. Becoming the highest point of the unit. The clouds threatened with lighting overhead.

"If everyone would view through the windows as we begin Jet Alone's first walk cycle."

A large lightning bolt cracked through the sky and connected with the antenna. The onlookers gasped as Jet Alone seemed fine.

"How are the power readings?" Tokita asked calmly.

"Everything's nominal. That lighting strike didn't do much. We're ready to begin." The technician responded.

Tokita stood firm. This was his moment. "Begin the walk cycle."

The two technicians before Tokita spoke amongst themselves as they readied the controls for the right left at a slow pace. Jet Alone hummed as it was fully brought online before slowly moving forward, stepping forward with the right foot. The foot landed on the ground fully and the unit remained there. Everyone was checking it balance. It stood there for a few moments as everyone gasped at its first baby step forward. However, at the back of the room, the technicians were a bit puzzled.

"Something's wrong, the left leg isn't responding." The first tech said.

"There's an irregularity with the nuclear core, something is draining power from it." Said the second.

"Now the AI is acting weird, I've never seen anything like this!" The first cried out in surprised.

"Cut off the power. Emergency stop. Abort the demonstration." Tokita ordered.

"We can't. Its refusing the shut down code!"

The unit hunched over, the sound of metal stretching groaned and creaked through the air for a few moments. Everyone in the control was silent at this unusual turn of events, the visor for the unit suddenly snapped open, revealing a set of large teeth underneath with a purple gooey substance, the chest piece exploded into a few pieces as metal sections snapped off, exposing a red circular core underneath.

Misato looked on in horror. "Is that...?"

"It's an Angel." Felia said sternly.

The visor spit into eight different pieces, pulling back to reveal eyes that glowed. Jet Alone, or rather, the Angel, hunched over with its eyes set forwards, taking a few breaths before launching itself forward at a running pace with a loud roar, ramming straight through the dome. Its left foot slamming down through the building and crushing those unfortunate to be standing in the center of the control room.

Ritsuko, Misato and Felia all coughed and waved their hands as they tried to wave off the smoke. The smoke eventually cleared as it floated up into the sky, their clothes covered in dust. They all made their way to where Tokita stood. He was standing perfectly stood in shock and awe at what just happened.

"T-This... isn't possible. Jet Alone was programmed to respond to any kind of combat situation."

"Well it seems like Jet Alone really has gone rogue with an Angel on board." Felia said. She quickly turned to Misato and Ritsuko. "Misato?" Felia said sternly.

"Yes?"

"Put a call in to Headquarters, I want any available Unit ready to sortie as soon as possible. We'll show these eggheads how our units handle situations like this." Felia ordered.

"Got no argument from me." Misato said as she walked to find a secure phone.

Tokita rushed to the front of the desk, his hands on the edge. "You can't be serious? That's two years of development going to waste!"

"Two years ruined in two minutes by an Angel that will wipe out humanity if we don't do something right now." Felia said.

Tokita slumped forward. His head hung low. This was still too much for him. "What do you intend to do?"

"Do what we do best, kill Angels. Start the evacuation process Mr Tokita. We'll deal with the Evangelions." Felia responded.

* * *

From the time the call went out to the Evangelions flying overhead in the air carriers took a couple of hours, the Angel had been steaming ahead from the science dome at Old Tokyo to the city of Tokyo-3. As the carriers were within sight of the edge of Old Tokyo, Asuka, Shinji and Rei were inside of their entry plugs. Waiting for orders. A window appeared in front of all three pilots, with Felia and Misato visible on the screen. Felia spoke first.

"Your currently heading towards the most likely destination of the Angel based on its last known course. Its managed to assume possession of a mechanical unit called Jet Alone."

Misato then came on. "We're assuming that it's going to use the onboard nuclear reactor to destroy the Geofront. Your job will be to stop it before it gets to Tokyo-3."

The speaker came to Felia again. "If that Angel hits the water, humanity is done for. The Evangelions are not currently equipped for underwater combat yet. This will have to be a land battle only. Do what you can to prevent it from reaching the water."

"Did you guys get all of that?" Misato asked.

Each of the three pilots acknowledged in their own way.

"Good. Remember, the whole of Japan is watching you three. Good luck."

The view screens vanished from all of the entry plugs. Leaving the pilots to their own thoughts. Asuka pondered for a moment whether or not to ask the stupid idiot about what made Wondergirl so special. Her finger was hovering over the button to call into his Entry plug, but she was stopped when the lights in her carrier turned green for the signal to drop.

* * *

"Roger. Launching Unit-01." Hyuga said as he received the order. Pulling a lever back by his seat in the cockpit.

Unit-01 and Unit-02 were released from both their carriers as the locking bolts turned and released the pylons. They both fell through the air in unison. Shinji curled Unit-01 into its crouching position in preparation for the landing while Asuka used the few seconds to twirl Unit-02 around a few times in free fall before getting ready.

Unit-01 landed first, Shinji pulled the pallet rifle from the holder on Unit-01's back as he stood up. Asuka landed perfectly and quickly raised herself and Unit-02 up, holding onto a lance in one hand. Giving it a spin before getting ready. The seconds were ticking down. The Angel quickly came into view, it continued to steam towards them at its running pace. It wasn't going to slow itself down anytime soon.

Unit-00 was the last to land. Landing on its knees with a loud slam furthest back from Shinji and Asuka, making a large indentation into the steel and concrete. Most of the orange armour had been recoloured and shined dark blue in the daylight. Rei slowly stood the Unit up, bandages could be seen wrapped around its shoulders and biceps where the repairs weren't complete.

High above in the sky, the carrier for Unit-00 dropped a package, it spun in the air as it fell towards the ground. Unit-00 put its hands out and caught it just before it hit the ground. Rei lowered the large package to the ground, opening it like a briefcase. Inside were parts to a large sniper rifle. Rei worked methodically to put the weapon together quickly while Shinji and Asuka engaged the Angel.

"Stupid Shinji! Cover me!" Asuka shouted as she charged Unit-02 forward.

"C-Cover you?!" Shinji stammered, surprised at Asuka's order.

"Yeah! Ladies and Captain's first!"

"Goddammit! Don't treat me like a rookie!" Shinji cursed as he got himself ready.

Shinji raised the pallet rifle and began to shoot at the Jet Alone unit. Bullets glanced off the metal, denting it in some places and a couple managed to punch through the weak spots of the mechanical unit as Asuka charged Unit-02 straight ahead, keeping out of Shinji's fire.  
Just as Asuka was about to reach the Angel possessed unit's side, she stopped and twirled Unit-02 on one heel, spinning around and drove the lance she carried through the midsection of the Angel, slicing through underneath the core, the pointed lance dug into the ground, pinning the Angel down into the concrete. As the Angel stopped in its tracks, she pulled out a Progressive Knife from her left shoulder pylon, holding onto the left arm of Jet Alone and twirled again, the Progressive Knife flying through the air towards the core to finish it off.

The arm of Jet Alone that Asuka had been holding on moved like a snake, its arm bent in a curved motion, the hand wrapping around Asuka's wrist and slammed the rest of the arm into her midsection, pushing her back. Asuka cursed to herself in German and rushed forward, watching the left arm to counter it.

The Angel moved its right arm forward, countering Asuka's compensation for the left arm, purple goo rushed out between the metal pieces and expanded the arm into a massive torrent of wires and goo, plunging into Unit-02's chest and sending her to the floor, the goo began to spread over Unit-02's chest, the vision of Asuka's entry plug began to crack as the chest was slowly crushed under tremendous pressure.

A Progressive Knife from Shinji flew through the air, slicing through the right arm of the Angel. It reeled back and cried out in pain. He bent down to rip the remains of the Angel's arm off Asuka, freeing her from most of it before turning back to the Angel. The left arm was gripped on the lance, trying to snap it. He rushed forward, jumping on top of it, the Progressive Knife dug into the underside of the left shoulder. It grabbed him by the ankle and threw him to the ground, but the knife still cut a large diagonal gash into the upper torso of the Angel.

It used its left arm to pull off the armour pieces on the left shoulder, the goo expanded inside, the mass of technology outgrew the armour plating and expanded upward, the Angel was coming out of its shell.

Dark storm clouds drew overhead, rain poured down as the Angel shifted its upper body mass out of the confines of the armour, leaving its waist and legs inside of the Unit.  
The Angel's left arm extended out towards Unit-01, the hand wrapped around the ankle. Shinji let out a cry as it picked him up high into the air and flung him into the air. Sending Unit-01 flying through the air as if it was a plastic toy, it made a massive splash of red water as it landed face first into the blood red liquid, sinking quickly down into the ruins of Old Tokyo.

Asuka struggled to get Unit-02 up. The damage to the chest made it difficult to raise Unit-02's head, much less get up and fight. The rain fell down heavily over the Angel as it reached down with its remaining gooey hand and took a sharp piece of metal off the Jet Alone unit. Raising the hand quickly up high into the sky as its eyes and core glowed red, letting out an inhuman scream as lighting crashed all around. Asuka stared in horror as Unit-02 couldn't move as she wanted.

A loud shot rang out in perfect timing with the lighting strike. A single large sniper bullet flew through the air from Unit-00's Sniper Rifle, aimed directly at the Angel's core, striking it dead centre and passing through to the other side of the Angel easily. The Angel remained still, the clouds rumbled for a few moments before the rain and clouds slowly dissipated, gradually fading away. Revealing the bright sunlight they had been covering. The body of the Angel began to dry up quickly in the sun's rays. The core began to crumble in on itself, the body soon following as the arms broke and crumbled into pieces, falling to the floor. The remains of Jet Alone were the last to fall, large metallic parts collapsing onto the floor. The shattered remains of the Angel's core laid in the middle of the wreckage that was once Jet Alone. The pride of humanity's largest piece of robotic engineering.

Inside of their Evas, both Shinji and Asuka panted in relief, Shinji's Eva continued to sink while Asuka slowly turned Unit-02's head to where the shot came from. Rei and Unit-00 slowly walked forward towards the remains of the dead Angel. Bandages were still on its arms and shoulders from the hasty repair work. A couple of patches of red could be seen from where the repair wasn't fully done. It pulled the slider up, back and then down and let an empty cartridge fly to the side as it came to inspect the kill.

* * *

Shiro Tokita's shoulders was slung low as his arms hung, walking along the ruined dome center was a look of defeat on his face. The shock of today's events had finally sunk in as he approached the coffee machine. Things were quiet around him as his shaky hand approached the button, but he was blocked as a feminine hand hit the button before him.

"May I?"

Shiro turned to see Felia standing next to him as she held her finger on the button. "Oh Miss Sohryu. By all means."

"Please. Call me Felia." She said with a smile.

"Ok. Felia."

"You have coffee as well?" She asked casually.

Shiro sighed and nodded. " I'd rather drown my sorrows in some hot sake. I'm probably going to be fired after the disaster today."

Felia punched in the buttons for another cup of hot coffee. "If you do, I have just the position for a man like you on a project I'm working on. Your welcome to contact me at any time."

Felia handed him his coffee, he took the warm cup into his hand, he noticed something in his hand and looked at a small piece of paper, it was her business card, she had passed to him. He looked at it for a second before he looked up at her, she winked and walked away, steaming hot coffee in her hand. This was how she recruited.

* * *

It was only a few hours later when Ritsuko Akagi arrived at Gendo's office. The Geofront had begun to settle into the evening activites. Workers busied themselves with talk of work and what had happened on the new of Old Tokyo. She was still in her smart dress when she stood before Gendo Ikari.

"What is your final report?" He asked.

Ritsuko handed him her report on the incident. She had barely enough time to write it all down. "The Jet Alone project won't be receiving any kind of funding after the incident in Old Tokyo. Aside from the Angel's unexpected intervention, everything else went according to plan. Felia's methods of recruitment to NERV projects were completely successful."

"Good work."

* * *

The sound of workers using the mechanical tools and blowtorches in the assembling of Unit-04's armour rang out through the hanger. The silver-white colouration of the armour shone brightly as the lights glared down on the workers. Overseeing the construction was Maria Vincennes. Standing in the monitor room by herself. She stood up straight, even though her eyes looked tired and there were bags under her eyes. She regularly came here after the training sessions to inspect the Unit. Ro had done it while Unit-06 was being made. She felt a pang of loneliness hit her as she remembered the times they spoke while watching the work.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door to the room sliding open. She turned to see an agent arrive with the Commander of the base. The Security Agent stood to one side as the Commander approached and handed her a piece of paper.

"New orders just came in. Your transferring over to the other American Branch. They need some extra pilot data for the training simulation software. The other pilots will be accompanying you to test out any bugs in the software."

Maria took the orders and gave them a read over. "I understand."

"Transports arranged, you have an hour to get your things ready." He said, turning to leave her alone in the monitor room.

The Security Agent was talking on his earpiece as he rejoined the Commander. The security had been tightened up since her father had broken in. She turned to look at Unit-04. Watching it being worked on for a moment before turning to her side. That pang of loneliness again. Last time anyone got orders to leave was Ro. She had been there to congratulate him. Not so for her right now. But soon. She was gonna meet up with him soon.

She had hope.

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers:

Every chapter will generally be released every 1-2 weeks. However, with Christmas coming soon in the coming month, this may not happen. So stay tuned for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion when its next released!


	7. Chapter 7

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 07:**

**Part 1: Unforeseen Consequences**

The quietness of space was all that could be heard as the planet Earth below continued on silently. People rising and falling to sleep, carrying on with their mundane lives. Clouds moved slowly across the green landscape and the oceans of the planet as the winds changed and swayed in natural harmony.

Silently, in one part of the world, the clouds parted in an unusual circular shape, pushed by a physical shockwave that later boomed as the sound followed the wave, expanding outward more and more with every passing second. A bright cross rose from the epicentre and went high into the sky, extending beyond the clouds, which soon began to shift colours from grey into bloody red. They swelled and enveloped a large circular area, spinning slowly into a massive, swirling, blood-red tornado.

Lights flickered brightly surrounding the swelling tornado before dying out, enveloped in the swirling crimson vortex. The grey clouds that were not affected by the colouration were soon dragged into the vortex as it looked like a blood red iris on the planet.

* * *

"What?!" Misato exclaimed, standing up straight in the bath.

She held the phone to her ear while hot, steamy water splashed and fell over the side of the bath from her sudden upward movement. The news she had received was still too shocking to believe initially, she stood still as water droplets ran down her naked body, her hand shook a little as she kept the phone to her ear.

"Unit-04 and Branch Two were wiped off the map?!"

* * *

The elevator doors opened up for a couple of NERV technicians, both of them quickly getting out of the way and throwing their clipboards into the air as Ro Sohryu slid out on the laminated floor, his white socks giving him a smooth glide between the technicians. Headphones covered his ears, buzzing with loud music and muting any angry response as he slid and slipped along the corridors and around NERV staff who quickly moved out of his way while Ro hummed loudly and played air guitar in just a loose t-shirt and shorts. He slid from one side of the corridor to the next in time with the tune from his headphones. He made his merry way into the monitor room for his Evangelion, taking a desk chair nearby and using its wheels to ride it to the window overlooking the repair of Unit-06 as the prototype engine was being fully installed. Workers had gotten it to about ninety percent installed, a few cables here and then had been all that was left to connect. The rest of the Evangelion looked to be in good shape.

Ro hummed and clicked his fingers as the song entered into a solo phase. The rock guitar instrument strumming its track. He stepped back and turned on the holographic projection, pulling the status screen to his full attention. Tapping on different sections to read them in time with his tune. He then nodded and spun on the chair, pushing it towards the door as the song was coming to an end. Eyes closed, he strummed the final long beat. The chair slowed down as it travelled across the metal floor before gently bumping into someone.

Ro's eyes snapped open as he felt the bump and turned around in the chair, his eyes looked up to see Felia standing there, arms on her hips as she looked down on him. He took his headphones off as he saw her expression. There was a definite problem. He could tell by the expression alone. She was not the usual calm or worried Felia that he knew most of the time. This was stern, business Felia. Something she had rarely showed to his face.

Behind her were two agents, they quickly stepped into the room, one motioned to lead Ro out. The other was quickly walking to the hologram. He complied, more out of confusion than anything else. As he left the room, the agent that had motioned to him followed behind, pointing him in the direction of where he needed to go. He was being escorted away. Something was not right here.

* * *

"Ro. I'm sending you to Misato's whilst I'm away." Felia said as she stuffed a couple of socks into her handbag.

"Why? What's going on?" Ro asked.

It had been a frantic hour after Ro had been lead away from Unit-06. Most of that hour of which was Felia packing up most of her stuff, mostly for storage while she would be travelling light with a handbag. And despite her protests, Ro gave his help to her. But he was also concerned. She was not usually like this unless something was very wrong and he had an itching to know what it was. Finally Felia relented giving him some information, if only to calm him down.

"Something's happened with Unit-04 in America. I need to get over there pronto."

"Are the rest of the training pilots ok? But what about Unit-06 here?" Ro asked.

"NERV has it on lock down for now until I can get back. As for the other pilots. I'll have to make sure their ok. I'll be back as soon as I'm able to. Don't worry Ro." Felia said.

Ro huffed and put his hands to his hips. "Right. Lockdown. NERV's not exactly been that great on that front lately. Place has more holes than Swiss cheese."

"Just keep you and your sister safe and follow any orders given. Understand?" Felia asked, looking into Ro's eyes.

"Alright alright. I'll keep an eye on Asuka." He said.

"I'll see you soon. Bye." Felia said, giving Ro a kiss on his forehead before quickly heading out of the door.

Ro looked on for a few moments before a sigh escaped his lips, he pulled out his empty bag and threw it down close by, slowly stuffing it full with his things, taking everything essential he would need at Misato's.

* * *

Shinji pulled the bow back and forth slowly across the large Cello's strings as the rain outside fell heavily. He'd been advised to keep up the practice from his teacher before coming to Tokyo-3. Before knowing of Angels and Evangelions. Since his arrival, he hadn't had much time to practice it however. But with everyone else in the apartment gone for the day and the heavy rain outside, it was a good time to bring out the cello and practice for a bit, shake off the rustiness that had already started to settle in. His only audience that he had been comfortable playing in front of was Pen Pen. Who had been lazily laying about on the pillow in front of the television. The soothing tone of the cello's notes were interrupted by the electronic tone of the front door, pulling Shinji into reality sharply.

"Who could that be?" He asked himself loudly, setting the cello aside for the moment, getting up and heading for the door. "Better not be a salesman, had two this week already."

Shinji opened the door, seeing Ro standing before him, drenched by the rain outside. Ro stood up straight, his hair stuck to his face. This had been the second time he showed up with a bag on his shoulder. He looked a little out of breath.

"Hey Shinji. Felia's dumped me off here. Hope it's ok that I can crash here for a while?"

"Ummm yeah sure." Shinji said, stepping aside to let Ro in.

Ro sighed, stepping in. "Thanks."

* * *

A circular hologram slowly moved through the time scale from zero seconds to plus ten seconds. Points moved upward from the center point, showing the extensive amount of energy that had vaporised the entirety of the NERV-02 Branch in such a short amount of time. Holographic models that represented Evangelion Unit-04's position along with the main structures were overlaid on top. Showing Unit-04 was directly at the center of the explosion.

"Evangelion Unit-04, its support group. Along with all of the other facilities within an eighty nine kilometre radius were completely destroyed." Maya Ibuki said flatly.

It was an effort to say those words in such a dead-pan tone. Her hand shook as she read the words. She did her best to hold her composure as she spoke. The reality of the Unit-04's destruction had been all too clear and real for her. Misato Katsuragi stood opposite of the screen from Maya. Her arms crossed in front of her as she looked on.

"And our Evas? Tell me their stable." Misato said.

"Unit-00 and Unit-01 are stable. Unit-02 and Unit-06 are currently on lockdown per IPEA orders."

This raised an eyebrow from Misato. "Why is Unit-02 on lockdown?" She asked.

"Felia issued the order shortly before leaving for America. She should be arriving at the location soon." Shigeru stated as he stood beside Misato.

Felia's camera from her location in America was patched through to a screen nearby, the screen was filled with static, but the audio was coming through fine. "Hello? Is the signal getting through?"

"It's coming through fine audio wise. Why's Unit-02 on lockdown?" Misato asked.

"Since Unit-02 is the production model, it shares the same specification set as Unit-06 and Unit-04."

"So are Unit-06 and Unit-02 a danger to NERV?" Misato asked.

"Unless I knew more I can't say anything for definite. I'm heading to the closest lookout base that is functional. It was on the outskirts of the explosion, but it's still inside of the tornado. It's the best we've got so far till this tornado passes. I'll have more information for you later."

With that, Felia's signal cut out, the interference from the tornado becoming too much for the call to remain stable.

* * *

Felia lowered the laptop screen after losing the connection, the tornado outside continued to beat down on the vehicle she was in. The vehicle was a large van with the only windows being reserved for the driver, leaving Felia and her fellow passengers with nothing to see but they could hear everything.

Felia took a breath, she had rushed so much in getting here that time spent in the van had let her mind finally check all the things she might've forgotten. She quickly thought through everything, looking over at her passengers as well. They were the inspectors she had hired personally for situations like this. One of the guides that had tagged along was all ready in his protective suit, he tapped her shoulder to signal her to get ready before doing the same to the other passengers.

Felia nodded and slipped into her protective suit, letting one of the other passengers of the van to secure everything in her suit in the tight confines of the isolated vehicle.  
Once she had her head inside of the helmet, Felia could hear her own breathing loudly. She did her best to remain relaxed and calm herself. Focusing on keeping a steady breathing pattern.

Breathe in slowly. Breathe out slowly. In. Out. Keeping the rhythm.

She felt the tap of the guide on her shoulder once more and she put a thumbs up, nodding in acknowledgement. She had done this a couple of times before and knew what to do. Just stay calm, follow the guide and everything will be fine. That was the idea. She buried all of the doubt in her mind into a tiny little box. Hoping it keep it contained safely.

The door before her was soon opened and the rush of the red mist swirled in front of her eyes. The loud rush of wind was muffled mostly by the interior of the helmet. The red particles in the air blew past her outside.  
The guide stepped out first, grabbing onto the railing that lead to the outpost, turning back with a light to signal it was ok. Felia went second. Holding onto the rope that bound her to the guide and she stepped out, turning back and giving the same signal to the third member.

The group slowly stepped out one by one. When all was clear, the van closed its door and drove off to safer parts.  
The journey took a few minutes to the facility, which had been set up as a lookout over the American base. For the past couple of months it had been her eyes and ears. Now it was all she had for data. The wind picked up as they continued forward and they were forced to slow down, the effort of taking a step was getting more intense. Felia had to remind herself a few times to steady her breathing, to keep composure and to carry on at a relatively calm pace.

Eventually the group reached the facility, the red particles had coated their suits, Felia had to wipe it off her mask to be able to see that they had gotten into the airlock. One by one the group stumbled in. Felia held onto the wall and kept the breathing pattern. It would be over soon, she reminded herself. The airlock closed on them and they were placed in total darkness, a red light came on with a loud sound. The group stood up, no time for rest now. It was time for decontamination. The light changed to blue, most likely ultraviolet rays and then the process began.

The process took a few more minutes, all of which was meant to clean off the red particles that had coated everyone's suits. After the airlock turned green and the decontamination cycles had finished, Felia was lead into the next room, where scientists unsealed her suit, she pulled her head out of the helmet, the bright lights hitting her eyes as she took a gasp of recycled and clean air. It was finally over for now.

* * *

The bright lights of the escalators hit Misato's eyes. The multitude of stairs filled the sides of the room as the stairs slowly descended. Guiding her and Ritsuko Akagi slowly down to their destination. Misato leaned against the moving hand rail, looking out to the other escalators.

"Why would they even push through an experiment with Unit-04 when it was less than sixty percent ready anyway?" Misato asked out loud. It was an obvious question, but one that had failed to be asked in the confines of the briefing room.

"The United States were getting ansty from the look of things. After all, Japan's got exclusive possession of four working Evangelions and America certainly didn't want to be set in last place." Ritsuko said, her eyesight never leaving the report she had been reading.

"Is that the reason why they swiped the rights for the construction and retention of Unit-03 and Unit-04? Just because they got jealous?" Misato asked.

"Probably so, even then there were considerable delays getting them constructed. Incidents like Bethany Base and opposition from the anti-Evangelion faction lobbying against them have gotten them to a near standstill." Ritsuko answered.

Misato crossed her arms, shaking her head. "And now they are handing off Unit-03's activation test to us without a test pilot! Isn't it a bit much that we have to supply our own?"

"The American branch is stating that it won't be supplying the candidates from the advanced training course. The American Department of Defence wants to keep being able to say they are maintaining Evangelion pilot training. If nothing else, twenty percent of their national budget is mandatorily allotted to the Eva's and NERV operations."

Misato scoffed at the answer. "Of course, they want to get their own way. All money and no work."

* * *

"You cook by yourself?" Ro asked.

Shinji was at the cooker, making some hot noodles for himself. "Yeah. I learned when I was living with my teacher. You don't?"

"I prefer my food hot and pre-made. Or cereal." Ro said before lifting more Udon noodles to his lips.

Ro slowly ate his noodles, a white towel was still slung around his neck, even though his hair was a rightful mess. It had taken about an hour to get him to warm up fully. Shinji sat down with him. Eating his noodles as well.

"So how come your not at school today?" Ro asked.

"They had me in for synch ratio tests and checking the repairs to my Eva earlier so I had the day off. Asuka's doing her checks now actually." Shinji said.

"And you're not keeping her company?" Ro said, his eyes looking at Shinji with slight concern.

"She... Prefers to be alone." Shinji said hesitantly.

Ro chewed on the noodles before pointing his chopsticks at Shinji. "My sister may be a hot-headed and rash Captain. But even she must know the value of co-operation and team synergy at least."

"Synergy?"

Ro looked at Shinji in surprise. "You've never heard of the term? What about cohesion?"

"Can't say I have sadly. Misato says we need to communicate with each other in order to get along so I guess? Not much luck with Asuka though." Shinji answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Right. Well synergy is how well the individuals get along with each other. Teams with good synergy tend to get group tasks done quicker. Perform better in combat situations. Watching each other's back and so forth." Ro said, his chopsticks moving left and right as he explained the concept.

"Asuka just charges forward and expects me to cover her."

"Then she's expecting you to be her support. To fulfil a role and cover her since she's going head-first into combat. Otherwise it's gonna turn into a fucking mess." Ro said, before finally picking up some more noodles to eat.

* * *

"This is a fucking mess." Felia said to herself quietly.

Felia rubbed her sinus' as she sat on the chair. It had been at least a day or so at the outpost now. Most of it she had spent in a small room with more monitors then she could count on one hand and it was getting to her. Her eyes hurt from the lack of sleep. The constant howling of the wind had kept her awake and the different hours meant she was suffering from jet lag too. Glaring before her was all of the paperwork flashed up on the screen. Sectioned off into several categories. Protests, supplies, financing, training reports, research and development documents on the finished S2 engine. All of the information that had been copied over to Germany. And now she had to trawl through it looking for clues to find something that can point to the cause of the explosion.

An assistant came to her side, offering her a hot cup of coffee. The smell permeated the air, drawing her attention to the hot drink. It had been far too long since she drank some. Hours in fact. She took a sip of it before her eyes went wide and she sputtered out the hot liquid as soon as the taste hit her mouth. "You call this coffee?!"

"I call this America." Said the assistant.

Felia grumbled as the assistant left, tossing the vile liquid into the nearest trashcan as soon as the assistant left her sight. The cramped conditions and the terrible coffee were doing little to improve her mood. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but no ringtone played. She pulled it out and checked the caller ID. It was Mari.

"Tell me you have something."

On the other side of the world, Mari was sat on the couch with a laptop on her lap. The holographic cube splayed open in half a dozen layers. Revealing its contents to her.

"It's not much. Just a piece of information that NERV had listed as of high importance. It's in reference to an automated system for the Evangelions that one Doctor Ritsuko Akagi had been developing. It's an evolution of the MAGI's artificial intelligence. I'm still digging into it. But without access to NERV to verify..."

"It's ok." Felia said reassuringly. "You won't need to access NERV for the files. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Apparently the system had an application of interest from Zodiac. They were interested in using it for an artificial intelligence that can remotely operate under bio-hazardous conditions. They even came up with some rudimentary code. Which so happens to be very similar to Unit-06's computer systems." Mari continued.

Felia lifted her head at Mari's words mention Unit-06. "So that's why they want Unit-06. They think it's using the same code. Any other activity with Zodiac's involvement?"

"No, NERV shut down any interest in the project. But this Dummy System's been around for a long time using the data from the First Child."

"Makes sense. She's been at NERV headquarters the longest. Anything else?"

"No. That's about all I could uncover at the moment, want me to keep looking?"

"Not for now, but keep that entry plug suit ready. We're short on numbers and we need every pilot we can get."

"Will do ma'am."

Felia ended the call suddenly. The mention about Zodiac was troubling. Coupled with the incident of Unit-04 and her mind started to work on a thousand different theories. She started to dig in a little deeper into the files.

Meanwhile at the same time in Japan, Mari continued to stare at the image of the First Child, Rei Ayanami, for a few more moments. She had found it when she was looking through the file. She looked at it like it was someone that she had remembered before. She shook her head gently, muttering something to herself about the image before shutting it down and laying the laptop to one side.

* * *

The rain had continued into the night, passing by at dawn to the bright sun. It was midday before the concrete of the city and buildings had started to show signs of being completely dry. Overhead were still a couple of clouds, leftover from the rainy storm the day before.

The clouds drew Asuka's attention as she ate alone in the classroom. Ro had been quiet for most of the day, he had gone to deal with his things in his locker. The idiot Shinji was hanging out with his friends, Toji and Kensuke. Completing the trip of the three stooges. Rei Ayanami wasn't anywhere to be found. As per usual. Probably off getting more brownie points with the Commander.

"Hey Asuka. Mind if I join you?"

Asuka turned away from the cloudy sky and saw Hikari standing in front of her desk with a lunch box in her hand. "Sure."

"Thanks." Hikari said with a smile, pulling up a chair to sit with Asuka. Her desk now a food table. "So how's things?"

"Everything is doing ok. I got some more tests tonight at work to do sadly." Asuka said, sighing as she ate her food.

"Are you gonna be free tomorrow then?" Hikari asked.

"Unfortunately yes." Asuka said.

"Great! Maybe you can help me with something." Hikari said.

She leaned in to whisper something into Asuka's ear. "What?! A date?!" Asuka exclaimed.

"He's a friend of my sisters and really wants to go out with you. Would you please?" Hikari pleaded, bowing her head.

* * *

"Oh man! Lunch time is the best thing a guy can look forward to in the day!" Toji exclaimed as he walked with a few sandwiches in his hand.

Shinji walked along side him, carrying his own lunch box. Toji had made it a regular thing to visit the cafeteria to see what food he could buy and they were now heading the staircase to the locker room where Kensuke was.

"What do you mean it BLEW UP?!" Came a loud angry voice.

Surprised at the sudden outburst, both Shinji and Toji picked up their pace to leave the staircase and head into the locker room. As they turned the corner, they could see Ro gripping Kensuke by the collar tightly, dragging the nerdy kid's feet along the marble ground. Ro was snarling, his teeth bared. He was obviously not in a good mood.

"Hey! What are you doing with my friend?!" Toji shouted, handing his lunch to Shinji and stepping forward, rolling up his sleeves.

Ro looked up at Toji. "It's none of your business, you're not an Evangelion pilot." Ro snarled, dropping Kensuke to the floor.

"Yeah! Well he's my friend! So you better back off of him! Or your gonna be dealing with me!" Toji warned.

Ro clenched up his right fist, he spun around, letting out a cry of rage as he slammed his fist into the nearest locker he could aim his fist at. The force of the impact made the metal cave in around his fist slightly, but it still stopped him from punching through. He pulled his right hand back and held it in his left. Gritting his teeth as searing pain shot through his arm. He quickly stomped away as Shinji helped Kensuke up.

"What the hell was that about?" Toji asked, dusting off his jacket.

"He took the news about Unit-04 pretty badly." The otaku said, adjusting his glasses.

"What kind of news?" Shinji asked.

"You didn't know either?" Kensuke asked, turning to Shinji.

Shinji shook his head. "Ummm no. Misato keeps me in the dark about that sort of stuff."

"It blew itself up apparently. Took out the entire second American NERV branch with it. My dad's division has been going nuts about it. Guy must've had friends there."

"Why'd you tell him then?!" Toji said, almost shouting at his friend.

"I didn't know he had friends there did I?" The otaku said, shrugging his shoulder in defence.

"Well maybe this is a good reason to shut the hell up about this stuff!"

As Toji continued to berate his otaku friend on the virtues of silence over secrets, Shinji noted that the locker that Ro had punch was dripping blood, Ro had hit the locker hard enough to cause him to bleed.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 07:**

**Part 2: Domino**

Misato yawned as she approached the elevator. She wearily pressed the call button and focused on keeping herself up straight as it arrived to her floor. Inside was Mokoto Hyuga. Reading a report in his hands.

"Oh. Hello Hyuga." Misato greeted.

"Ma'am." Hyuga said, nodding in acknowledgement.

Misato wearily walked in. The emergency of the day had passed for now and while it still lingered on. The knowledge that everyone else doing their part of enough comfort for her to leave for the night. The lift doors closed behind her and the confined space slowly jolted before moving upward. She propped herself against a wall opposite from Hyuga, crossing her arms. Trying not to fall asleep.

"So I take it you're going to the Unit-01 cage as well?" Hyuga asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" Misato's face rose in curiosity "No. Is there something wrong?"

"Oh nothing's wrong Colonel." Hyuga said in a reassuring tone. "It's just that there's a new piece of tech that's just come in from Doctor Akagi's division. I assumed you knew of it."

"Ummm no. What is it?" Misato asked.

"Well its probably best if you saw its installation for yourself."

Misato leaned over the railing as Hyuga stood behind her. Below them was black entry plug, the main access panel was wide open. The Commander, Vice Commander and Ritsuko were huddled in a group discussing among themselves as a large piece of equipment behind the pilots seat was hosted into the new entry plug. Technicians worked away to secure the connections between the pilot's seat and the new equipment.

"It's suppose to be a new support system for the pilot. In emergencies its capable of assuming control of an Eva and generate its own AT-Field. I suppose it's safer this way then purely relying on the pilots." Hyuga explained to Misato.

Misato stood up from the railing, taking a step back and turning to Hyuga.

"Hyuga, keep me informed of any other circumstance where something like this has happened without my knowledge. I don't like being kept in the dark." Misato said in a flat toned order.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

The underside of the black entry plug was a smooth glass panel, underneath shone neon green lettering that spelled out "Dummy system". Gendo's fingertips brushed over the smooth reflective surface. His white glove reflecting back at him as he oversaw its installation.

"How long will the installation take?" Vice Commander Fuyustuki asked. He stood with his hands behind his back.

"At least another couple of hours. It's currently using Rei Ayanami's personality data. But we're still having to iron out the kinks in the system. It's not perfect." Ritsuko replied.

"If the Evangelion accepts the signal and moves then that is good enough." Gendo said. "Unit-03 will be here within the next few days, I leave it in your hands Dr Akagi."

"Yes Sir."

"Have you decided on the testing facility yet Dr Akagi?" The Vice Commander asked.

"We plan on having Unit-03 do its start up tests at Matsushiro Base. Afterwards it will take over Unit-02's position at headquarters. Unit-02 will launch alongside Unit-06 at Gotenba Base given that both Units have the same parts." Ritsuko explained.

"Good. Keep us informed." Gendo said as he started to walk away from the dummy plug.

"I will Commander."

Both commanders left Dr Akagi to her devices, exiting promptly from the Unit-01 cage. As they left, a technician came in with a report for her to check. She nodded and read through it as the technician left her side. As she read though, she picked up on someone watching and looked up at the railing above, seeing Misato stand there for a couple of moments before she turned and left the cage as well.

* * *

It took a couple of hours after Misato had left NERV to finally reach her apartment. It was late into the night by the time she walked through the front door. She noted the front room light was still on. She removed her shoes and jacket, walking to her room. Asuka was laying on her back, munching away on a bag of crisps while Pen Pen lay on his side beside her.

"Hey Asuka!" Misato said, trying to sound cheery even though she was tired.

"What's happening?" The red head asked.

"I'm gonna be heading to bed in a bit. Don't you have a date tomorrow?" Misato said as she walked past Asuka to her room.

"With some guy." Asuka replied. Her eyes widened a little as she remembered something and sprung up into a seating position" Oh! Misato! Can I use your lavender perfume?"

"Ah, no." Misato said as she got out of her uniform, throwing the dirty clothes to one side.

"Aw, meanie."

Misato put on a yellow shirt, not even bothering with any sort of bra underneath. "That stuff is not for kids. Is Shinji in his room?"

"He is. Ever since he got home. He mentioned something about tomorrow but I didn't listen to half of it." Asuka said, rolling onto her front and taking a crisp from the packet to munch in.

Misato casually walked past the redhead in her shirt and shorts, walking to Shinji's room. Gently knocking on the door a couple of times.

"Shinji. You awake? It's me. I'm coming in ok?"

Misato didn't hear a reply, so she slowly slid the door open to peer in. It was dark, the only light coming in from the hallway behind Misato.

Shinji was laying on his side, his fingers were curled up, holding the bed sheets tightly.

"Listen. I know what tomorrow is." Misato said gently.

"You've done a lot of brave things and I'm sure your mother will be proud. Don't be nervous about it ok? I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night." Misato said before slowly sliding the door closed.

* * *

Asuka turned the television off as her program finished and lifted her legs. She used the momentum of going forward to get onto her feet and stood up, kicking the cushion to one side of the room gently. Before she headed to towards the kitchen.

She heard the front door go again and noticed Ro slowly walking in. Looking down and a bit pale. His right hand was bandaged around the knuckles. A couple of spots of blood could be seen soaking through the bandages.

"Hey Sis." Ro said quietly.

"What's with the hand?" Asuka asked.

Ro shifted a little. Putting his left hand over his bandaged hand. He'd forgotten to hide it. "I uuhhhh... Had an argument. With a locker. The locker won."

"You idiot. That'll teach you not to argue with metal." Asuka said, turning back to head to the kitchen.

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a lay down. Pretty knackered from today." Ro said, his feet shuffling on the floor to his bed.

He tossed his stuff down in the dark room and collapsed face first into the futon. His eyes looking at the clock nearby as the seconds ticked by, his eyes slowly closing as his body passed into sleep. Hoping his dreams wouldn't be nightmares as his hand throbbed in pain.

* * *

Most of the morning had been a blur of the usual routine for breakfast and then staring at the horizon as he travelled with Misato to the graveyard. She tried to make conversation with him, but between still being in a haze from waking up early and not caring much about his father, Shinji was not much of a participant. Soon though, they arrived and Shinji left Misato's car and slowly walked alone.

As Shinji wandered through the mass of graves, he contemplated how many years has it been since he had last came to this place. His memories were really fuzzy concerning his mother. It had been at least a decade since he had last seen her face. He had only been a toddler back then. He kept walking through the rows of grave stones. Stone pillars aligned perfectly next to each other. The amount of graves passed over the hillside and onto the next. Thousands of pillars. Creating a sea of the deceased.

Even amongst the sea of dead, Shinji was not the only living soul. His father knelt at the grave he had been aiming for, placing a bouquet of flowers at the base of the grave stone.

"Dad?"

"Shinji." His father said, turning to him slightly.

Shinji took a couple of steps to join his father's side. "I can't believe you actually came. Do you come here every year?"

His father nodded. "I do."

"You don't have a picture of her do you?" Shinji asked as he stood before his mother's grave.

"No photographs. Even this grave is a pale facade. No body remains." Gendo said.

"Then it's true what my teacher said. You threw everything away."

"Everything about your mother is in my heart and mind. That is all I need for now."

There was a long pause, Shinji couldn't find the words he had wanted to say to his father. His mind had gone blank as he stood in front of his mother's empty grave.  
The loud blast of the VTOL's engines suddenly hit Shinji's ears as it started to descend into a clear patch in the graveyard.

"It's time. I'm leaving." Gendo said.

Shinji looked over the VTOL as his father turned to step towards the aircraft, noting the speck of blue hair in the passenger seat. It must've been Ayanami.

"Father!"

Gendo turned towards his son. Staring at him as the blow back from the engines hit the back of his head.

"I'm glad! We got to talk! Today!" Shinji shouted over the engines.

"Indeed." Gendo said back.

Shinji looked up as the VTOL lifted off, watching until it became a speck in the sky. He took a step away from his mother's grave.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the day. Misato, Asuka and Shinji all left the apartment to do their own things, giving their goodbyes at the door as they departed one by one.

"Well..."

"See yea..."

"...Later."

Ro waved with his bandaged hand as he held Pen Pen in his good left hand, who let out a quark as the door closed leaving the two of them alone in the apartment. Ro soon put Pen Pen down and walked into the main room. Taking a moment to stretch in the hallway. Letting out a loud yawn.

"You'll be fine. Misato said. Pen Pen doesn't need much supervision she says. Stupid bird." Ro muttered.

Pen Pen waddled past Ro and headed towards the television. Prompting Ro's curiosity as he finished stretching, he watched as the penguin picked up the remote control, then using his beak to change the channel onto a nature program about penguins. Pen Pen dropped the remote and laid onto his side on a nearby cushion, watching the program.

Ro turned away, shaking his head. "Huh. I take it back. That bird's pretty damn smart."

Pen Pen turned back to Ro, who saw that he had the bird's attention and leaned out from behind the corner. Pen Pen's eyes slowly closed a little. A slight sound came from Pen Pen's beak.

"Heh. I'm just gonna... Do my own thing and let you be." Ro said as he slowly withdrew from Pen Pen's sight.

Pen Pen slowly turned back to his program. Content with watching his fellow penguins enjoy the ice cold water as they swam around on screen.

* * *

The noise of the restaurant was loud as people chatted and ate amongst themselves. Busy with their own conversations as music played from old stereos. Hot food along with drinks of many variety moved along as waiters brought them to the table.

In one corner, a cup was slammed into the table, making the plates and bowls clink and shake. Misato Katsuragi leaned over the table with her cheeks and nose a bright pink from the large quantity of alcohol she had already consumed.

"So I find out that I was the last person contacted about Unit-04 and then this new dummy system they installed into Unit-01? What the hell is NERV up to not telling me about it? It just rubs me the wrong way!" She shouted in a drunken slur.

Kaji sat across from her, he remained calm in light of Misato's drunken outburst. "The system is a top secret project of Ritsu's. Command probably would've told you when it was ready. The incident with Unit-04 has bumped up the schedule."

"Shinji and the others. Are they really just pawns in a game? To be used as and when? Tossed aside on a whim?" Misato questioned in her drunken state.

"You're saying your better with the kids in the cockpits?" Kaji asked.

Misato didn't answer him. Her eyes looking elsewhere. She was still battling the issue. This moment of silence was enough to bring her temper down.

"You know the price of military tactics. Some may see the price of keeping humanity safe as being worth the cost of the shit we have to put them through. Some think they shouldn't have that burden at all." Kaji said.

"And you?" Misato asked, looking at him.

"Not for me to decide Misato." Kaji said.

Misato sighed and leaned on one arm, she'd calmed down. Kaji swung the cup in his fingers. The ice cubes clinked inside as the liquid swirled around. "This is our first meal in years, and all we do is talk about work."

Kaji sat the cup down, leaning back into his seat. The people outside were in their own little worlds. But Misato's phone ringing in her bag was clear for them to hear over the traditional karaoke music. His eyes looked over Misato's body as she leant over to her bag and picked up her phone.

"Hello? Yeah. I'll make my decision soon." Misato said.

"That Ritsu?" Kaji asked casually.

Misato ended the phone call quickly, looking up at him, her cheeks still pink from the alcohol. "Yeah. She's been pestering me to choose a candidate for Unit-03."

"It is your decision after all as Chief of Operations." Kaji said.

Misato looked down at her phone. "I'm not sure whether to follow the Marduk report or to pick from our own set."

"If you want to look for the full list of potential candidates for the Marduk report. Look up code 707."

"Huh? But that's Shinji and Asuka's school." Misato said.

"That's all the Marduk report really is."

Misato lowered her head slightly. "Human Instrumentality." She paused to look up at Kaji. "What is NERV really doing behind the scenes? What else don't I know about?"

"Honestly? Pulling a lot of strings. Ones that even we are tied to. Other than that, I don't know myself. Wish I did though." Kaji said quietly, sipping his drink. The sound of a distant horn from a train ran through the air and mingled with the rest of the restaurant.

* * *

The train sounded its horn as it ascended from the Geofront towards the city above. The train carriage was empty except for Gendo and Fuyutsuki. The orange light of the Geofront slipping into its night-time setting filled the carriage. Fuyutsuki sat opposite Gendo, reading the global section of his newspaper, one of the pages showed the local spin on Unit-04 as being a freak tornado that was carrying tons of debris.

"The Committee seemed pretty alarmed by the loss of Unit-04. What did you tell them?"

"With the facts. We don't know the cause and an investigation by the IPEA is underway. Anything else is out of our hands." Gendo answered, his chin resting on his hand as he continued to look out at the Geofront.

"SEELE must be busy rewriting the Dead Sea Scrolls as we speak."

"The Scrolls are merely a guide. They are not set in stone. This will teach the old men a lesson."

"And that is?" Fuyutsuki said, looking up from his paper.

"Nothing is absolute. Chaos has a way of changing even minor aspects of the plan." Gendo said.

"But without order, chaos would just lead into anarchy."

"Which is the paradox, order trying to control chaos into to have both spontaneity and order."

"So how will that apply to us with our current situation?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"We will improvise and adapt. As humankind as done so many times before." Gendo said before the train ploughed into darkness as it entered a tunnel leading to Tokyo-3.

* * *

"Hey! I'm home!" Shinji called out as he stepped into the apartment. Nobody answered him as he took his shoes off and stepped inside. He looked down the hallway and saw nobody, he slowly walked into the main room, finding Pen Pen asleep in front of the television. He'd been watching it again. But the window to the balcony was open, the window gently blowing the curtains. Ro was standing outside, leaning on the railing.

"Hey. What are you doing out here?" Shinji asked as he got closer.

Ro looked out across the city before him, seeing the mass of grey buildings before him. He took a few moments to respond, listening to the wind gently blow past him. "A lot of people died in America yesterday. Can probably imagine that they'll have a place like that graveyard soon for them too."

As he spoke his words slowly, Shinji heard every word sinking in. The sudden pang hitting him as he understood that a large amount of people had lost their lives. Things began to fall into place inside of Shinji's mind. The reason why Ro had come by to Misato's. The way he had acted at school. It all began to make much more sense.

"It kind of hits you like that doesn't it? When you suddenly think of all the people in this city. What would happen to them if we failed. What happens to the rest of the world if we failed. Pretty massive weight on us when you think of it." Ro said almost rhetorically.

Shinji found it difficult to say anything. How could he?

"I uhhhhh... wanted to apologise about yesterday." Ro said, turning his head to one side. His injured hand resting on the railing to one side.

"It's alright. You feeling better?" Shinji asked.

"Not really. Feel like I got side-swiped you know?"

"You better come in. It's pretty cold out there." Shinji suggested.

"In a bit. I mean, in a minute. Just want some along time ok?"

Shinji nodded slowly. "Sure. I'll cook something up."

"Thanks."

* * *

The door opened and Asuka looked in with a scowl on her face. Her heels were kicked off into the wall beside her, the heels bouncing off and chaotic strewn about the welcome home carpet. She walked on in a care to set them right.

She stomped into the hallway, grumbling to herself as she walked past Shinji and Ro in the kitchen and headed straight for the bathroom. Shinji was about to call out to her when Ro trapped his shoulder and shook his head to stop him.

Asuka soon appeared from the shower about thirty minutes later, clad in just a couple of towels as steam escaped from the room. Her face was more relaxed. By now Shinji was in his room while Ro sat and watched television. Watching the international news.

"So how was your date?"

Asuka sighed. "Ugh. Terrible."

"That bad huh?" Ro said. Keeping his eyes on the television screen.

"The guy couldn't find any words to say to me. So I ended up taking the train home when he went to get in line for the roller coaster."

"That sounds pretty harsh." Ro said.

Ro switched the news to a different channel. But it was more of the same. The tornado in America being passed off as a freak weather event. But he knew what was going on.

"Your still watching the news about that tornado? Who cares about a bunch of Americans? We've got Angels here that need killing that deserve more attention than that." Asuka said.

Ro turned off the television and took a deep breath. The pang of anger welled up in him and it rose to a sharp peak. But he breathed out, reminded himself that she didn't know. Nor was he gonna put her into her place for it. No matter how deserving it felt to do it.

Ro stood up quietly. Tossing the remote control to Pen Pen and walked into his room without uttering a word. He shut the door firmly and laid on his futon.

He stared up at the ceiling. His left hand under his head. His bandaged right hand at his side. It throbbed in hot pain occasionally. A nearby fan blew warm air over his body and face, slight sweat beads dripped down from his forehead. The room was warm and he was slowly melting. But he remained still. Forcing himself to bare through the discomfort. The light bulb above him was blinding. But like the temperature of the room, he didn't care one bit. His eyes were focused on the ceiling. Examining the wood that criss-crossed the walls and ceiling. Focusing his attention to a single object. His hand throbbed again, reminding him that his body was still there. He slowly moved his right hand up towards the light. Feeling the pain, but ignoring it and pushing on. Fingers outstretched. The light shone down between his fingers, reaching out as if to grab the light and hold it tightly.

"I'm still alive. I'm Ro Sohryu and I'm... still alive." He muttered to himself.

He clenched his bandaged hand tightly into a fist.

* * *

Felia rubbed her eyes, yawning from another night full of howling winds and lack of sleep. She turned on the monitor and looked over the data once again in the confined data room. She had made it her personal quarters for her stay. Staying separate from everyone else. It was dark, her face lit by the brightness of the screen. The data before her were observation reports on the support group for Unit-04. Observed by the IPEA agents she had sent there personally. The horrible thoughts of whatever was left of their bodies reached into the back of her mind as she slowly woke up. She had sent them there and they died for it. What kind of Commander could she be if losses like this were hitting her this hard? Especially when they were still fresh in her mind.

She scrutinised the data again. Studying the timeline. The Commander of the facility, the pilots, the S2 engine that she had worked so hard for had left hours before the incident. Transferred to the 01 Branch in Massachusetts. But no transport log was made at their destination. They never arrived. It was like they had vanished into the unknown. Something was not right. The last log mentioned something about another set of transports coming in. The words: "Possible construction supplies?" and "Dummy system?" were all that was left.

The IPEA agents didn't know about a supply shipment coming in? Or even about a new system that was Ritsuko's pet project? That wasn't right at all. They knew all of the supplies that were incoming at all times. This was unscheduled. The last log was dated a full fifty nine minutes before the facility was destroyed. Almost an entire hour that nothing was reported.

Felia stood up from her seat. It was time to leave. She left the small data room and walked out to the main observation room. There were a few staff still working on collecting data from what they could in the weather. She walked briskly past them, hitting the small makeshift cafeteria that had been made in the largest of the rooms. Some of the staff had settled for a sleeping bag along the wall. She spotted the guide sipping coffee and tapped him on the shoulder. Her face was stern, but she didn't say a word, just a thumb pointed at the exit. He nodded. Gulped down the last off his coffee and walked off to get ready.

It was time to leave.

* * *

In the silent emptiness of space, the young boy with silver white hair and crimson eyes stood on the finger of the giant. Tabris, or rather the name he was given by SEELE: Kaworu Nagisa, lifted his hands towards the blue and green planet called Earth before him, his right thumb pressing the button on his left wrist. The loose plug suit he was wearing quickly conformed to his body's shape and contours tightly, removing any creases from his suit with a slight hiss as the suit vacuumed out all of the space inside the suit. He took in a deep breath through his nose, resting his crimson eyes on the planet before him.

"The time is almost here. The song of the first act will be ending soon. I hope there is enough time for me to enjoy its encore."

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers:

Every chapter will generally be released every 1-2 weeks. So stay tuned for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion when its next released!


	8. Chapter 8

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 08:**

**Part 1: First Act's Soliloquy**

Somewhere in Springfield, Ohio.

A large eighteen-wheeler semi-trailer truck slowed as it came into a gas station, pulling up to the gas pump. The large obese driver soon hopped out and opened the fuel cap, taking the nearby gas nozzle and began to fill up the fuel tank with gallons of fuel for the journey onward. As he filled the tank, he took a moment to look around the gas station. Noting the coach nearby with a group of children speaking with an adult. The children, teenagers, were handling bags and suitcases.

Across the gas station, the Evangelion pilots: Maria, Tim, David, Pauline, Chris and Matthew were standing in a group looking up at their Commander as he handed them a notice each. The note told them all the same. The program was over. They were being released to their families. Maria was the first to speak up about this.

"Sir? What the hell is going on? Why is the project being terminated? Where are we suppose to go from here?" She questioned.

The Commander stood coldly before the pilots. "I'm terminating the program, the higher ups say there is too much heat on NERV about you kids. Your parents are gonna arrive soon to take you home."

Maria stepped forward, quietly addressing the Commander.

"And my father?"

The Commander put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be placed under a legal guardian's care. I'm making sure none of your family can reach you."

With that, he stepped back on the coach, not looking at the pilots as the coach pulled out of the gas station and joined a small convoy of NERV marked vehicles.

Maria looked on as the vehicles passed on into the horizon, waiting until she couldn't see the black dots in the distance.  
Slowly one of the other now ex-pilots came to her side.

"What are your orders Cap'n?"

Maria turned to the group, looking a bit pale and tired. This was such a punch to the gut it had drained the colour from her face.

"Grab a drink and something to eat. We're... waiting." She said before she walked off.

Maria dove into the restroom. It was filthy, but it was cool and dark. She ran the tap and cupped her hands, collecting some water before splashing it onto her face, letting the ice cold water sink into her skin. She rubbed her face gently and looked up at herself in the grimy mirror as water droplets from her hands and face dripped into the sink below.

She needed that ice cold feeling. She needed to be sure she was awake. It just couldn't have ended like this. She refused to believe it. It was too ingrained into her. All of that training, all of the hours of blood, sweat and tears, some moments were quite literally a combination of all three, and it was all for what? Nothing?

It was hard to just forget that. To say that it was over.

She stared at herself, the twinkle of the cross caught her eye. She dried her face and stared at the cross for a while. Running her thumbs over it gently.

She eventually came out of the restroom after a very long time of self pondering. Looking over at the rest of the pilots. The parents had finally arrived and were taking them home one by one. She looked around and noticed a large black car that had two people waving at her. She slowly took a step forward as a large eighteen wheeler pulled out of the gas station, it's engine roaring loudly.

* * *

Floating contently in the warm water was a penguin. Pen Pen, happy and content, letting out a gentle sound from its beak as it enjoyed the steamy bath it so often took. If it was one thing Misato had taught the warm-water penguin, it was that baths were good.

"What? You want Wondergirl to do it?"

The voice was muffled. But it startled Pen Pen from his bath as the sound of a fist slamming into a table could be heard through the wall as well.

"That's right." Misato said as she sat down her alcoholic can. It was her first one of the day.

Across from her, Asuka leaned over the table, breakfast had been made by the house-broken Shinji, who merely sat quietly as the redhead fumed next to him.

"Why the hell would you choose someone like that?! Aren't I a good enough pilot?!" Asuka exclaimed.

"Because Command has decided that to keep you ready, you'll be piloting Unit-00 while your Eva is in storage. Since that decision has been made, Command is transferring Rei to be the test pilot for the new Unit." Misato explained calmly.

Of course that was the official reason, but Asuka wouldn't have any of it. She snarled at Misato and her fist slammed into the table once more.

"That's bullshit! I won't take her crappy Eva!"

"Would you rather pilot Unit-03 instead?" Misato asked.

"I'd rather it be me then her! Captain's prerogative!" Asuka shouted.

"Colonel's prerogative! I make the choice! Not you!" Misato barked back.

* * *

As the argument continued on muffled through the walls, Ro stood before a mirror that hung on the wall. His hands rested on the clothes drawer before him. The night hadn't passed on easily for him. His morning routine of working out hadn't gone so well in the cramped space. He could do his stretches, but nothing too intensive, lest he damage something. Eventually the argument died down and a couple of minutes passed before a gentle tap on the door was heard.

"Ummm Ro? I've got some mail for you." Shinji's muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

Ro took a moment to reply. "Alright. You can come in." Ro said.

The door slowly slid open and Shinji gently walked into the cramped space. He carried an A5 sized envelope in his hand as he approached him. Ro watched him in the mirror for a few seconds before turning around and taking the envelope in his bandaged hand.

"How's the hand?" He asked gently.

"Been better. I'll get over it soon enough." Ro said flatly, opening the envelope quickly and taking out what appeared to be a letter.

"I'll let you have some privacy." Shinji said, turning away to give Ro some peace.

* * *

"This is absurd! I'm a Captain! Higher rank officers get the better equipment!" Asuka exclaimed, still angry about the decision.

Asuka picked up her soda can and hastily drank its, gulping down its contents loudly. Shinji walked by and sat quietly beside her, not rising to the temptation to her anger. He was content to just eat his toast and let the day go by. Ro entered the kitchen moments later, his eyes darting across the piece of paper he held as he walked.

"Well, you're no longer the "only" Captain of the Evangelion pilots." Ro said as he took a seat, still reading the letter. His face was in a state of shock as he read.

"What do you mean by that?!" Asuka asked. Swinging the soda can to the side.

"I uhhhh... Just got a promotion. To Captain." Ro said. Waving the envelope as he continued to read the letter.

Asuka's face contorted into rage before...

* * *

"He did what?"

Felia's question came through clearly on the phone. Ro looked out at Tokyo-3 from the top of the school. He had needed the privacy to speak to her. Overhead, the trail of a plane going across the sky carried on getting longer.

"Yeah. It sounded pretty strange to me too. But at least we know the rest of the pilots are alive." He said with a sense of relief.

"This doesn't make sense. There's only one potential reason he'd terminate the project like this. And it's not pretty." Felia said, she was working out the angles in her head.

"Espionage isn't the Commander's thing though." Ro said.

"Depends on the circumstances. With the pilots thrown back into the public, we'll have trouble tracking them down for a while. And since the Commander has the only working S2 engine. Anyone who gets their hands on it has both unlimited power and a very powerful destructive device if Unit-04's destruction is any indication."

"So what's the IPEA's job now?" Ro asked.

"I'll organise teams to locate and keep tabs on the pilots as well as track down the S2 engine. As for you. Accept the promotion and report it to NERV. I'm headed back as soon as I can."

"Ok sis. Take care ok?"

"I will. Keep the pilots safe. No matter what happens."

"Will do."

* * *

"Oh man! Life cannot get better then this!" Toji exclaimed in joy as he carried his lunch from the school cafeteria.

"What? What the hell am I suppose to eat if you didn't make lunch for us?!"

Toji stopped as he listened to the loud exclamations coming from classroom 2-A. The door was wide open and everyone was looking at Asuka. Her loud exclamation had assaulted the ears of everyone in the classroom as she stood before Shinji fuming at the ears.

"W-well I didn't get a chance to m-make it this morning and with you rushing off there wasn't much I could d-do about it." Shinji stammered. Sinking lower and lower into his seat as Asuka towered over him more and more.

"Oh sure! I bet you was probably more concerned about someone else then making food for a starving woman!" Asuka snarled. Her ill temper from earlier this morning had not improved.

It was at this point that Toji leaned against the open doorway. Food still cradled in his arms. "Well well, looks like the newly-wed couple are having marriage issues."

This prompted a short snigger and giggles from the other class mates. The obvious attention towards Asuka and Shinji now dawned on them both, their faces going red with embarrassment.

"Shut up!" They both exclaimed.

* * *

"Coffee?"

Misato's eyes lit up as the hot cup of coffee was sat down. She gently took a sip of the warm dark liquid.

"Mmmmmm thanks Ritsuko."

Ritsuko gently leant on Misato's desk. Her hands still inside of her lab coat pockets. "So, have you decided yet? You said you'd let me know."

"I'm still having a hard time deciding. Our pilots are more than qualified but..."

"Don't worry Misato. I can take care of bringing in someone new if you're worried about our current pilots."

Misato smiled gently and looked up at Ritsuko. "I guess it's better to have a backup just in case things go wrong."

"I'll inform the Marduk Institute then." Ritsuko said as she stood up straight, giving Misato a wave before walking out of the office with both hands in her lab coat pockets. Leaving Misato to work on her computer.

"The Marduk Institute. You probably 'are' the Marduk Institute." Misato mumbled under her breath as she continued to ponder on the files before her on the computer screen.

* * *

Felia looked out at the horizon from underneath a set of large black sunglasses, a fine red mist covered the sky in the far distance. The tornado had subsided little during her stay, which had been delayed a little by the caution of the helicopter pilots.

The pilots finished their flight checks and engines had been warned up and became louder as the engines went to full speed. The aircraft moved as the rotors lifted Felia into the air slowly, the rotors creating a wake underneath the helicopter.

As the helicopter went higher into the air, a radio call went through the pilots helmet, he turned back to Felia and signalled to tune in to the conversation.

She tapped on the button that was on her headset.

"Yes?"

The person was breathing heavily as they spoke, in an obvious rush. Saying that they had found something outside of the tornado and told her to look out of the window.

She looked out of the window, seeing a large truck pulling up close by, the tarp flapped in the wind, but she could see that it was wreckage of a truck that had been covered in the red mist, Felia sat still for a moment. Letting it sink in.

"Confirm that." She said.

In response, the crew of the truck got out and pulled back the tarp covering the metal piece on the landing pad, one got onto the main piece and knelt down, revealing the symbol on the twisted metal as they brushed the red powdered covering away. Felia looked through the binoculars and saw clearly that it was the symbol of Zodiac. The anti-bio weapon organisation. Her fingers pressed down hard in the material of her binoculars and she gritted her teeth.

She flung the binoculars down and got out of her seat, clambering forward to the pilot.

"We're leaving! Now!" She barked.

* * *

A single water drop slowly fell through the air towards a reflective surface. It's shape conforming to the act of wind resistance mixed with gravity, the mass pulling it towards the surface.

As it impacted, the surface began to bend, moving down at first and then up, creating a circular wave as the water drop mixed with the surface, becoming one with it. Joining the whole as the ripple moved outward even more.

The outer ridge of the ripple soon touched another ripple as another water drop fell close by. More and more ripples soon fell, creating a mass of ripples that crashed and collided with each other. Water drops flying and splashing into each other.

All falling from the wet cloth that was being wrung by two large, pale hands. Fingers squeezing the cloth to expunge the water.

"Hey!"

The sudden impact of the broom head hitting Shinji's forehead made him winch in pain. His eyes had been so focused on Ayanami cleaning the floor with a wet cloth that he had stopped cleaning the classroom himself. On the other end of the broom handle was Toji Suzuhara, standing with a dust pan in the other hand as the rest of the classmates behind him paused to see the commotion.

"Get back to work!" Toji exclaimed.

"I-I'm sorry." Shinji apologised.

"Sorry isn't gonna get the floor clean Ikari!" Toji yelled.

"Suzuhara, why aren't you cleaning?" Hikari yelled out from the open doorway at the front of the classoom.

Toji winced at her yelling, but he soon took a step towards Shinji and slapped Ikari solidly on the back. "Just making sure Ikari is doing his bit. No worries."

Hikari soon approached the two, ready to give Toji a lecture, but the door at the rear of the classroom soon opened and the old teacher stepped into the doorway, adjusting his glasses. "Mr Suzuhara?" He asked meekly.

Toji turned his head to the old man. "Yeah?"

"You've been asked to the Principal's office. Could you come immediately please?"

"Yeah, sure." Toji said, his face going neutral. He reached for his personal bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Toji, what did you do this time?" Hikari asked.

"Nothing. My soul is innocent. See you later Class Rep." Toji said, waving a hand as he left the classroom.

Shinji and Hikari stared at each other and shrugged in unified confusion. After Toji had left, the old teacher came back into the classroom.

"Would you two know where the Sohryu siblings are?" He asked.

* * *

The sun began to settle on the horizon, Ro stared at the setting sun as his sister continued on her loud ranting.

"No matter what! I'll put Wondergirl to shame!"

"Even so, you don't have to squash her completely."

"Your being too simplistic, even if you are my brother!" Asuka barked back, taking an angry bite from the lunch she'd bought at school.

"I need to avenge myself for the humiliation of not being picked! It's a matter of honour now can't you see that?! The Sohryu name can't be sullied by such a blue haired suck-up!" She continued before taking a few loud gulps of orange soda.

"Well Sis, you know what to do if you really want to restore the Sohryu name and be the test pilot for Unit-03." Ro said as he brought he's own cold can of soda to his lips.

"And that is?" Asuka asked.

Ro simply smiled at his sister as the afternoon sun shone on his face.

* * *

Toji looked up at sign for the Principal's office on the large wooden door. Staring for a couple of moments before taking a breath and putting his hand on the bronze handle, he knocked a couple of times with his other hand and opened the door slowly, stepping inside.

"Mr Suzuhara?"

Toji paused as he found that the Principal wasn't in the office. The chair behind the dark wooden desk was empty. Before him was a blond woman seated in one of the other chairs, smartly dressed in a white business suit.

"Ummm. Yeah. That's me." He responded as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm Dr Ritsuko Akagi. I'm here to give you an offer." Ritsuko said, offering Toji a card. He took the card and looked at it in detail. The NERV logo was stamped on the top right corner.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 08:**

**Part 2: Infiltrator**

Asuka awoke to the sound of her mobile phone buzzing. The clock on the wall showed it was about midnight. She gently rubbed her eyes, clearing her vision to look at the little glowing screen. It was a text from her brother. She gently took it in hand and flipped the top open, checking the contents. A smirk gently came to her lips.

"MMmmmm wunderbar. So that's when their doing Unit-03's activation test." Asuka mused to herself.

She slid out of her bed, throwing the covers to one side as she started punching in numbers into the phone. The numbers giving off quiet beeps as she rang a number. No way she was gonna missed this chance. She paced back and forth on the soft floor with her bare feet hardly making a sound as she waited for the phone call to be picked up.

* * *

The morning had gone by quietly, Asuka and Ro headed off for work errands before school and Shinji decided to take a small detour to Rei's apartment. As he walked by the construction sites that lead to her apartment, his mind was filled with questions. Soon, however, he found himself in front of Rei's door. He tried the buzzer, but it failed to even let out a crackle. Probably still not wired into the mains yet. He knocked on the metal door gently.

The door to Rei's apartment creaked and slowly opened, Rei leaned into the door, looking out at the bright sun. Shinji could see she was clad in a shirt and panties. At least she was dressed. But she look really tired. There were bags under her eyes.

"Huh? Is everything alright Ayanami?" Shinji asked.

She moved her head up slowly, looking at Shinji through tired eyes. "Yes. They had me doing restart tests for Unit-00 all night."

"All night? But weren't you supposed to pilot Unit-03 today?" Shinji asked.

Rei raised her sleeve covered hand, rubbing an eye gently. "No. They chose another pilot at the last minute. They had me doing system checks for Unit-00 instead."

"Oh. Well I guess I better let you rest. I need to get to school soon." Shinji said as he waved goodbye and began to walk off.

Rei stood in the doorway for a few more moments, watching Shinji walk away before she turned her eyes to the sky, noting the birds flying in formation in the sky high above.

* * *

Misato watched through binoculars as Unit-03 was brought into the testing cage. She saw the restraints locking into place as the technicians secured it tightly. Satisfied, she lowered the binoculars and slowly stepped into the small dome nearby.

Inside was a whole concert of NERV technicians. Each of them with at least three screens to monitor. Checking and double checking the readings for Unit-03. Behind them all was Ritsuko, writing notes onto a large notepad. She finished up as Misato closed the thick metal door behind her.

"Everything is going smooth Colonel. If this keeps up we'll have five working Evangelions." Ritsuko said.

"Test pilot for Unit-03 has arrived. Activation test will commence in sixty minutes." The announcement stated.

"Roger that." Ritsuko said on the intercom system. "Squad Two, your cleared for Entry Prep."

Ritsuko stepped back and looked at Misato, she had crossed her arms, staring blankly at the screens. "I hope you made the right choice Colonel." Ritsuko said.

Misato let out a soft sigh. "Let's hope so."

* * *

It was mid-day, lunch time at the school. Shinji leaned on the railing on the rooftop with Kensuke. Looking out at Tokyo-3 as the wind softly blew across the roof.

"Hey! Toji hasn't been in school since he got called to the Principal's office yesterday. Do you think he got asked to be an Eva Pilot?" Kensuke asked.

Shinji turned to his Otaku friend. "How would I know?" He asked.

"You're a pilot right? They'd tell you about something like this right?" Kensuke quizzed.

Shinji shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know anything. I'm usually the last person to know about anything unless it's an Angel attack."

"Well I heard they are gonna be testing Unit-03 soon right?"

And there it was, Kensuke had been using his father's laptop to mine for information again. Shinji was his only source of confirmation about the information he had been reading. Shinji decided to not answer his friend, only look out at Tokyo-3.

"The test is probably happening now." Shinji said to himself.

* * *

The locks hissed and released the Entry Plug, it slowly spun and slid into the Plug slot on the back of Unit-03. The dark shiny cover soon moved over the Entry Plug and the shoulders and head slid back. The technicians soon began to sound off as the start up checks were carried out one by one.

"Psycho-graph position normal."

"List cleared up through one, three, five, zero. Over."

"Roger that, one, three, five, zero. First Stage Contact is complete."

Misato stood idly while Ritsuko ticked a few boxes on the page of her report, she then leaned forward to speak to the team on the intercom system. Her voice reverberating off the metallic walls inside.

"Control. Your authorised to proceed to Second Stage." She ordered.

The various lights on the technicians' desks slowly came up green one by one, the major milestones being noted by the staff as they switched from red to green.

"All neural links nominal."

"List clear to two, five, five, zero. Over."

"Harmonics at nominal levels."

On one of the status screens, the rising green bars began to near a layer marked "Absolute borderline".

"Absolute borderline... On my mark... Mark!"

The green bars soon broke through the borderline. Now was the critical phase as the Evangelion began to power up. Taking in the synchronisation of the pilot. Allowing them to become one. The eyes of the dark Evangelion soon lit up brightly, too brightly.

An alarm siren soon sounded in the small room as Misato and Ritsuko looked at the monitors in worry, trying to find the problem. "Status report!" Ritsuko shouted.

"There's an abnormality in the nerve centre!" One of the technicians shouted out as they held onto the headset.

"Abort! Cut off all the circuits!" Ritsuko ordered.

The umbilical cable blew off with a large puff of smoke. The other cables connecting to Unit-03 blew off as well. But this just agitated the Evangelion even more, it started to break out from its holdings, twisting metal as it pulled on its restraints.

"Abort failed! Repeat, abort failed! High energy readings coming from Unit-03!"

The black covering over the Entry Plug moved, springing upward.

"It can't be! It's..."

Ritsuko trailed off as she stared at the blue stringy flesh that clung on the underneath of the Entry Plug's cover. Unit-03's face guard split open and bared its teeth, the Evangelion letting out a loud roar as light built up inside of the cage.

A searing bright light burst through the facility. Shooting upwards into the sky and formed into a cross as a powerful shockwave followed in its wake, spreading outward as the cross shone brighter then the sun. Vehicles were overturned and the nearby buildings were caved in as the shockwave pressed into the structures, shattering glass and steel supports.

* * *

The afternoon sun glared into Felia's eyes as the afternoon began to settle in. Felia looked over Tokyo-3 in the far off distance, the fact that the aircraft was still so far way meant she had to squint to see a hint of the buildings slowly began to rise up from inside the Geofront. Despite the fact that she could barely see the city, it was still a more welcoming sight then what she had seen in America.

The sound of wind came rustling in over the engines, it was hard to hear at first but then the aircraft jerked and rocked as something pushed the aircraft around. Felia tumbled from her seat as warning sirens blared out from the cockpit. After a few seconds the pilot managed to steady the craft. Turning a few buttons and alarms off.

Felia picked herself from the metal floor, her hair was a mess as she clambered towards the pilot, brushing her hair aside.

"What the hell just happened?!" She asked loudly.

"That was a shockwave from Matsushiro Base! We're getting in touch with NERV HQ right now!"

"A shockwave? Oh no..." Felia said, trailing off. She straightened herself out.

"Get us to Gotenba Base now!" She barked.

* * *

The tug of the wrist band, the pulling and stretching of material that covered flesh, the press of a button on the wrist, the hissing of air as the entry plug suit vacuumed the excess air out, making the baggy material shrink and conform to the body. The stretch of muscles to make sure everything was ready and with a slam of the locker, the pilots dashed out of the locker room to their Evangelions.

The process had taken less than five minutes as the Evangelions were being prepped for immediate launch. No words were spoken, no idle chat, no humour displayed. The pilots had serious faces on them as they rushed into the Entry Plugs. The main hatch closing and the LCL soon filled the cylindrical interior. The insertion went smoothly, the Evangelions were online and ready to go within minutes.

Unit-00 and Unit-01 were launched simultaneously to Tokyo-3, Ro and Unit-06 were kept in Gotenba Base on standby, ready if the situation was called for. The techs checking the engine inside of Unit-06 constantly, making sure it didn't overload or develop a fault and destroy the base like Unit-04 did.

* * *

Vice Commander Fuyutsuki leaned over the Commander's desk. The entire Command Center had lit up as soon as the explosion had occurred and Command Ikari was on his way. "What's the damage?"

"We're still getting status reports, but it looks like the epicentre of the explosion seems to be from Matsushiro Base." Makoto reported back.

"Kept this incident contained. I don't want the SSDF interfering with this." Fuyutsuki ordered.

It was then that Commander Ikari arrived via the personal lift. He took his seat in silence.

"We're getting reports from the Nobeyama Observatory of an unknown object heading inbound for Tokyo-3. Putting it up in the main screen." Shigeru stated.

The image was the view from the observatory at maximum magnification. Centred in on the edge of a mountainous ridge. Stepping out from behind it was a large humanoid figure. The shine and outline of an Evangelion's armour and shape were clear to see.

"Send the emergency deactivation signal! Force eject the Entry Plug!" Gendo ordered.

The technicians punched in the code into their terminals. On the main screen they could see the main cover for Unit-03's Entry Plug blow off with a hiss of smoke, yet the Entry Plug remained in place. The blue stringy flesh kept it firmly locked in place.

"Negative! Signal's been rejected! The Entry Plug is jammed inside of Unit-03!"

Gendo took a couple of moments to contemplate the situation, but his response was cold and direct. "Unidentified object is not to be classified as Unit-03. As of right now the object is to be reclassified as an Angel."

The three NERV technicians looked at their Commander with surprise at the decision. "Sir? Are you sure about that?" One of them asked.

"Order the Evangelion Units to intercept the Target at the Hokuto Prefecture!" Gendo ordered.

* * *

Felia stormed into the monitor room that overlooked onto Unit-06. She quickly approached the main console, typing away into the keyboard, undoing the locks that held Unit-06 restrained. As she did so, she made a call on the intercom system to Ro's entry plug.

"Ro, I'm unlocking your Eva. As of right now, Unit-06 is cleared for combat."

"Roger that Sis, it's good to have you back." Ro said as he flexed his hands in the cockpit, the Evangelion's fingers following his movement.

"The target is Evangelion Unit-03. Your priority is to extract the pilot and terminate the Angel. If NERV kicks up a fuss, you have the IPEA's authority behind you." Felia said.

"Copy that." Ro said as he stepped the Evangelion to the launch pad.

* * *

The afternoon sun shone orange light on the buildings as birds chirped in peacefulness. The streets were still and deathly quiet as wind gently blew through them. A couple of birds flew under telephone wires hanging above the street to and on the edge of a small water fountain. Beaks lowered to drink from the water.

A small tremble sounded and reverberated through the ground, making the water in the fountain ripple. The birds cocked their heads to one side before they then flew off, chirping away as a large dark foot came down, taking up the entire road and crushing the stone fences on either side. The impact of the foot coming down made the walls of the buildings crack and crumble at the weight of the foot landing and pressing into the road before slowly moving on. The large figure over head approaching the edge of the mountainous terrain surrounding it.

* * *

Several kilometres away, Rei was stationary inside Unit-00, the blue Evangelion hiding behind a mountain ridge, using the natural cover to full effect. Pallet Rifle raised up and anticipating the target. Shinji kept Unit-01 crouched down. Holding his own Pallet Rifle. Rei's position was out of his sight

"Is Misato and Ritsuko ok?" He asked into the intercom.

"We're doing everything we can to rescue them. Don't worry." Makoto said on the intercom to reassure Shinji.

"But I'm not sure how to do this without Misato here." Shinji said nervously.

Makoto's image from the Command Center at NERV came up inside of Shinji's Entry Plug. "We're still fully staffed down here and Commander Ikari is taking command of this operation personally."

"My father is?" Shinji asked. He could hardly believe that his father was actually taking command for once

"Target is now approaching third defensive line. All units get ready for ground combat." The announcement from Command came.

Shinji saw in the far off distance a dark figure walking towards him, it approached the power lines that were dotted around the area. The tank battalion that had hastily set up moments before began to fire. Shinji's eyes went wide in shock as he stared at the supposed target.

In front of red burning sunset was Evangelion Unit-03. Walking forward with eyes glowing crimson red, slowly walking forward as the tank shells merely bounced off it's AT-Field.

"Wait? That's the target? But it's an Eva! Are you sure that's an Angel?" Shinji questioned.

"Absolutely. That's your target." His father said on the intercom. Shinji shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"This is wrong. What about the pilot? Are they still inside?"

As Shinji continued to question his farther's orders, the dark Evangelion slowly stepped in front of Unit-00's view. Rei aimed the Pallet Rifle carefully at the target. Noting the Entry Plug still jammed into the Evangelion by the blue flesh. She hesitated for a moment and that was all the Angel needed.

A shrill cry of pain came in on the intercom system in Shinji's Entry Plug as Rei's view screen flickered into static. "Rei!" Shinji cried out as the view screen from Unit-00 vanished completely.

Unit-00 was flung across the orange sky in pain view of Shinji's Evangelion, slamming head first into a nearby mountain side. Shinji raised his weapon as a dark shape launched itself at Unit-00. Pinning it down. A large 3 symbol could be seen on the figure's back. It was Unit-03. It's right hand held Unit-00's head down while the left hand grabbed at Unit-00's left forearm. A strange blue ooze began to seep from Unit-03's hand, melting into the armour of Unit-00's forearm, the sensation sent a jolt of pain into Rei's arm. Making her recoil in pain.

* * *

"Corrosion has been detected in Unit-00's left forearm! Nerve contamination confirmed in the neural nodes!" Maya said as the status report came in on her desk.

"Sever the left arm at the shoulder joint immediately." Gendo ordered.

"But the left arm circuits are still active! The pilot would be at risk of injury!" Maya stated back at the Commander.

"I don't care. Do it." Gendo ordered.

* * *

The left arm hissed at the shoulder joint and blew clean off, exploding soon afterwards and knocked Unit-03 back a step. Rei cried out in pain as the sensation carried on into her body. Her left arm going limp and she put a hand to her shoulder. Her body shaking from the shock. The communication from the Command Center piped in.

"Unit-00 has sustained moderate damage. Initiating rescue response!"

As Rei's Entry Plug was released from the Plug slot, Unit-03 made a grab for it with its right hand. The fingers were inches away before something impacted the right shoulder blade, making the dark Unit stumble for a second.

As Rei's Entry Plug flew off and escaped, the dark Evangelion straightened up and slowly turned its head. It's glowing crimson red eyes landing upon Shinji's Evangelion, the Pallet Rifle had a faint trail of smoke coming from the barrel. The shot had glanced off the armour. Shinji slowly backed up his Evangelion a step.

Quickly the dark Evangelion crouched down on all fours, a small halo appeared above its head as it's AT-Field deployed, thrusting Unit-03 into the air, it's limbs outstretched as it moved and expertly spun in the air towards Unit-01.

Shinji barely had time to put his Pallet Rifle in front of him before Unit-03's feet broke through the weapon and slammed into Unit-01's chest. Sending Shinji flying back into the ground, before he had time to recover, the Angel-possessed Evangelion leaped in top of him, it's hands diving for his throat.

* * *

"The pilot's life signs are becoming unstable. Life support system's are failing!" Maya shouted as the ECG that tracked Shinji's life system became erratic.

"Damnit! Cut the pilot's synch ratio by sixty percent!" Fuyutsuki ordered.

"Delay that." Gendo said calmly, prompting the Vice Commander to look at Gendo.

"But Ikari, if this continues the pilot is going to be killed." Fuyutsuki said.

"Shinji? Why aren't you fighting?" Gendo asked calmly, directing his question to his son.

* * *

"T-the pilot!" Shinji said between gasps as he struggled for breath, the fingers of Unit-03 wrapped around Unit-01's throat made impressions on Shinji's own throat. "We have... to get... the pilot out."

"Shinji. That is not an Evangelion anymore." Gendo stated as the screens flashed and cracked before Shinji's eyes. "It's an Angel. Terminate the target!"

"No! I... can't!"

"It's either them or you!" Gendo shouted.

"No! I'd rather die!" Shinji croaked as the impressions on his neck grew tighter.

* * *

Gendo stood up sharply from his chair, his patience finally wearing out and becoming prevalent as he stood. "Change the synchronisation circuits from the pilot to the Dummy system!"

"Sir? Are you sure? The Dummy system hasn't been fully debugged yet and Dr Akagi hasn't approved its deployment yet." Maya asked.

"It'll be of more use then the current pilot! Do it!" Gendo shouted.

"Delay that order!"

The NERV technicians sat stunned as Felia's image appeared on the main screen of the Command Center, overlapping the image of Unit-03 strangling Unit-01. Maya's hands hovered over the keyboard.

"You heard me, delay that order!" Felia barked again.

"You don't have the authority to do that!" Gendo rebuked.

Felia stared at Gendo on the monitor at Gotenba Base. Her brow lowered as a cold look came over her eyes. "Maybe not as a Commander, but as the head of the IPEA I outrank you. Ro! Location!"

"Exiting the Nirasaki Prefecture and entering Hokuto Prefecture now!" Ro said as he jumped over the large motorway sign that showed he was leaving the Prefecture.

"Make it quick! Shinji can't hold out much longer!"

* * *

"Going as fast as I can!" Ro said, pushing his controls forward, making his Evangelion run faster across the landscape alongside the motorway to Hokuto Prefecture. The red sun shining on his left as he ran.

One of the screens to Ro's right side was showing Unit-01's status, an unusual blue mark on Unit-01's neck began to spread slowly along the neck more and more with every passing second. "Armour is now being corroded near the cervical vertebrae! Contamination confirmed through Layer 6200!" One of the technicians piped in.

"Ro! E.T.A to Target!" Felia shouted on the intercom.

Unit-06 ran straight towards the target, ignoring the suggested path around the mountain ridge on his screens, making a straight line up the mountain ridge towards Shinji and Unit-01. "Ten seconds to target!"

Over the mountain ridge flew Unit-06, katana unsheathing in mid-flight, Ro yelled as the katana flew through the air and sliced through both arms of Unit-03. It roared as the remaining sections of the arms bled out profusely. Ro rolled Unit-06 and brought his bloodied katana up to point at Unit-03. Shinji coughed and gasped as he yanked both of Unit03's hands off his neck and took a moment to gather his breath.

"Well. Looks like the Angel can't grab us anymore." Ro said as he walked his Unit to Unit-01's side, twirling the blade quickly to flick the blood off.

Unit-03 hunched over, bearing its teeth and roared as something moved underneath the shoulder blades, sprouting out were two flesh coloured arms with hands, fingers curling as they hung over the shoulders of Unit-03. A large plume of steam escaped from the Evangelion's mouth as it hunched over.

"Ok! THAT is new!" Ro exclaimed.

"What are we gonna do?" Shinji croaked.

"Hold on, I'm thinking." Ro said, keeping his katana pointed at Unit-03.

Unit-03 took a step to its left, Ro took a step to his right, keeping up with the Eva. It moved to its right, Ro side-stepped to the right, keeping both hands on the handle of the Katana blade. The Angel before him was studying him as he stood in front of Shinji. Ro slowly moved his good hand away from the controls and typed up a couple of things into a keyboard, typing up commands. Inside of Shinji's Entry Plug, a small hologram appeared close to his face, showing the local area around them, lines split the map like a chess board. A square started to flash.

"Shinji, go to grid point G4, I'm sending you an extra Rifle and Knife." Ro said in a hushed tone. "Go, now."

Shinji slowly stood Unit-01 up, moving towards the grid point highlighted, Ro slowly stood between him and the Angel controlling Unit-03, preventing it from getting closer. Ro typed away again into the keyboard in his Entry Plug. Keeping his attention mostly on the Angel.

* * *

"IPEA requisition order for one Pallet Rifle and one Progressive Knife requisition received and approved." The MAGI's announcement came from the confirmation order.

Fuyutsuki leant by Gendo's side, speaking in hushed tones as the image of Ro keeping Unit-03 at bay filled the main screen.

"What are we going to do Ikari? The IPEA's interference in this operation could cost us dearly."

"We'll deal with Felia after the Angel as been defeated. But until then, there isn't much more we can do about it." Gendo said calmly.

Suddenly the connections from Unit-06 and Unit-01 blacked out on the screen to the right, prompting Makoto to turn around in his chair to call out to Gendo and Fuyutsuki. "Sir, the IPEA has just cut transmissions from NERV headquarters to both Unit-01 and Unit-06, we can't interact or shut them down, we can only receive communications between the Eva Units."

"It seems like the IPEA is taking the matter into their own hands." Fuyutsuki said.

Gendo quietly fumed as his kept his hands in front of his face. Staring intently on the screen. Watching.

* * *

"Why'd you cut the communication system?" Shinji asked as he took the Pallet Rifle in hand.

Ro kept his attention on the Angel in front of him. "Wasn't me, but I can't lie, the chatter from NERV was annoying me all the same." Ro said to Shinji.

"But what are we gonna do about the pilot?"

"But nothing!" Ro shouted. Keeping his head forward. "As your Captain, I don't want any ifs, buts or whys coming out of your mouth! We are NOT losing another pilot. You hear me?"

Shinji shrank back a bit into his seat before leaning slowly back forward.

"Good, now, here's the plan. Your gonna draw the Angel's attention and I'll flank and disable it from behind. From there, we'll focus on the pilot's extraction. You ready?" Ro said in an authoritative manner.

"But I can't shoot at the pilot, how am I suppose to get its attention?" Shinji asked.

"All you have to do is shoot above or to the side of the Angel, just don't hit the Entry Plug. That's my job to deal with." Ro said.

Shinji slowly approached Unit-03 once more, using the mountainous terrain to hide himself from the Eva. Ro noticed Unit-01's position on the hologram of the area surrounding him. He took a couple of deep breaths. Now was time to carry out the plan.

"Ok." He said quietly before letting out a loud order. "Go!"

Shinji sprung from cover and fired a few rounds at the ankles of Unit-03, the Eva immediately spun towards him and made a leap onto the mountain ridge, roaring as it clambered over and drove straight for Shinji. Ro ploughed his Eva forward, chasing after Unit-03. The thing moved fast as it struggled with Unit-01 again, once more going for the throat to finish the job.

Shinji struggled with the controls, holding the fleshy hands of Unit-03 at the wrists to stop it. Seeing the lack of progress, the crimson eyes of Unit-03 shone more brighter and more hot steam escaped its mouth as the cut limbs began to shake and regenerate its hands. Now the four-armed Evangelion grabbed at Unit-01's throat with the two new hands while keeping the hands busy and pinned down.

While all of this was going on, Ro crept Unit-06 behind Unit-03, the katana ready for him to make his move.

"Please." Ro whispered to himself. "Let my aim be true."

Ro made Unit-06 take a couple more steps forward, the blade of the katana moving to the left side, the tip lowered downward. As Ro approached Unit-03, he swung the blade up diagonally from bottom left to top right, cutting through the left two shoulders, the arms flew and thumped on the ground, Unit-03 cried out in pain as blood spurted out from the joints.

Ro curved the path of the katana downward and swung from the bottom right to the top left, the sharp edge slashing through the two shoulders on the right side. Unit-03 leaned back and roared as the arms fell. The katana blade fell on Ro's left side, he swung it straight across to the right, slashing through the waist, cutting through the base of the spine.

The force of the blade cutting through the torso made Unit-03 fall to the ground in two pieces, the mouth guard open and spurting out blue and red blood in equal measure. Ro lifted the katana above his Eva's head, Ro let out a scream as he swung the blade down, decapitating Unit-03.

He stood above the torso, kicking it to roll the torso on its front, he looked at the Entry Plug covered in the blue flesh, he raised his katana again, sharp side up, slamming the blade into the machinery surrounding the Entry Plug, sparks flew as it cut into the blue flesh of the Angel and the machinery of the Evangelion, he slowly began to make the blade encircle the Entry Plug, cutting it out.

"Shinji! Can you hear me?!" Ro yelled into the intercom system, but got no immediate response. "Ikari!"

Shinji gasped and rubbed his throat, letting out a horse reply as his eyes fluttered. "The pilot..."

Ro kept cutting. "When I say pull, I need you to yank the Entry Plug out as hard as you can. Can you do that?"

Shinji slowly leaned forward, Unit-01 followed in his movements, almost stumbling to get in front of Unit-06 as Ro was almost finished cutting, Unit-01's hands came close to the Entry Plug. Ready for Ro's call.

"PULL!"

Shinji grabbed the end of the Entry Plug with both hands, yanking hard. The end of the Plug resisted, yet as he pulled, the chest of Unit-03 caved in and was pulled out of the Plug slot, the blue flesh of the Angel became prevalent as a core began to appear from within the torso, fused with the blue flesh. The blue mass surrounding the connection between Entry Plug and the core began to shift and bulged out, getting larger and larger as it became an amorphous blob that covered the core. The contours of a human face began to take shape.

Ro spun the katana, letting out a blood curdling scream as he swung the bloodied blade from right to left, slashing through the core, it shattered into two pieces as the blade sliced its way through. The two halves of the core expanded outward before they exploded into a mass of liquid, the blue mass melted off the entry plug and dripped onto the remaining body in a sludge before it shifted into a dark grey coloured.

Ro shook inside of his entry plug, his hands were shaking at the controls. His attention had been on the combat so much that now he was aware of his right hand hurting badly as it throbbed under the material of the glove over it. He panted and sucked in LCL as he took deep breaths. "Command... Confirm... Angel... Destroyed."

Maya spoke as she confirmed the data. "Confirmed. Mass is inert, repeat, mass is inert. Angel. Destroyed."

Ro lowered his head and sat back, a sense of relief came over him as the staff at Headquarters pitched in with status reports and rescue efforts at Matsushiro Base. He pulled up his right hand, gently opening and closing it, feeling the pain jolting through his arm.

"I'm still alive."

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers:

Every chapter will generally be released every 1-2 weeks. So stay tuned for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion when its next released!


	9. Chapter 9

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 09:**

**Part 1: Blood soaked Judgement**

The capsule closed on Misato Katsuragi. Sealing her in, protecting her from the Second Impact, denying her a chance to see her father ever again. All she could do was lay there in the darkness as the world crumbled around her. Holding tightly onto the pendent. Holding onto dear life. Holding on for seconds, minutes, hours...

The darkness soon was filled with the rumblings of sound, the easing in of light into her eyes as they slowly opened. The lights around her flashed in and out, moving between a mixture of red and blue colours. The mumbles became voices, voices of people moving around her, each word slowly came into focus from being so muffled and quiet moments ago.

Misato Katsuragi blinked a couple of times, she was laying on her back, her vision filled with the night sky above her. Stars twinkling and shining brightly as they littered across the sky, it was peaceful. Quiet. Her hand tightly holding onto the pendent that hung around her neck.

"I'm alive?"

She felt a hand gently touch her on the left shoulder, she slowly turned her head. Seeing Kaji kneeling at her side. The occasional rescue worker running around behind him as he smiled at her.

"Welcome back Misato. You were damn lucky to get away with the injuries you had."

"Where's Ritsuko?" Misato asked, her first thought after seeing that she was alive was to her friend and co-worker.

"She's fine." Kaji said reassuringly. "Just a bump on the head. She wasn't as hurt as bad as you were."

"Good." Misato said, gently smiling in relief. But the smile was short lived as the more immediate things came to mind. "What about Unit-03?"

"It was classified as an Angel. Ro and Shinji took it down." Kaji said blankly. Misato gasped at the news, her head slumped a little on the pillow as she looked to the ground.

"We found another one!"

Misato looked up to see a rescue worker, dirty from digging through the rubble, scrambling to reach a group of medics that had been co-ordinating the rescue efforts. Kaji turned to look at them as well. Listening on the conversation between the group of medics and the rescue worker.

"What's the condition?" One of them asked.

"Massive cranial trauma! We need to get this one to the hospital now!" The rescue worker said.

Misato saw past Kaji's shoulder the group of men slowly bring out a stretcher from the rubble, she saw a gloved hand fall over the side of the stretcher between the legs of the medics as they worked to get it out of the rubble. She could barely make out what colour the hand was from her blurry vision, but she was sure it was predominantly red. Whether it was from blood or the actual plug suit's colouration, Misato couldn't tell, she gently took hold of Kaji's sleeve with her right hand.

"Kaji, please check on that person over there." She said, almost begging him.

Kaji silently nodded and checked in on the injured pilot that was surrounded by the rescue team, trying to see over their heads as to the identity of the person that the medics were busy trying to get free. Eventually he got a look as the injured person was immediately rushed into a nearby ambulance, the lights flashing blue and red as the sirens blared out. Kaji slowly walked over to Misato, gently kneeling by her side again.

"It's alright. They found Asuka. Their taking care of her."

* * *

The hum inside of the Entry Plug surrounded Ro as he sat in his seat. His left hand at the wrist of his right hand as he slowly opened and closed the fingers of his right hand into a fist, hissing as the pain seared through his arm. It was gonna be tough to pilot the Eva for a while. Before him was the main front view screen, filled with the zoomed in images of NERV staff cutting their way into the Entry Plug of Unit-03. The hands of Shinji's Unit-01 held either end of the Entry Plug firmly. Ro's concentration was cut by the beeping tone of an incoming call. A screen flashed up on his left side, he took a moment to look at it before touching it with a finger from his good hand. The screen brought up an image of Felia at Gotenba Base.

"Ro. This is Felia. Are you reading me?"

Ro waved his good hand as he took a breath before replying. "Yeah Sis, I hear yea. What's up?"

"I need you and Shinji to check something out for me. It's urgent." Felia said.

"Shinji isn't available at the moment, but I am." Ro said as he looked at the screen to his left.

"Good, I need to you to take Unit-06 and head to the following co-ordinates."

An image appeared before Ro, he gave a quick look with tired eyes over the route between him and the co-ordinates that flashed before him.

"But that's an airfield. Why there?" Ro asked with a confused look on his face.

"While you and Shinji were dealing with Unit-03, the aircraft that had transported it from the United States went silent. Currently NERV staff are trying to get in touch with the crew, but I doubt it'll be long before they try breaching their way in. I need you onsite in case this Angel affected more than just Unit-03."

"Alright, I'm on my way." Ro sighed, sitting up straight, hissing slightly as he moved the right control handle with his bad hand. "It'll take me a while though, right hand isn't doing too good."

"Get here as soon as you can. But don't push yourself."

"Alright. See you soon." Ro said, ending the conversation with Felia, he turned Unit-06's head towards Unit-01. "Shinji?"

Unit-01's head tilted up to look at Unit-06. "Ummm yeah?"

"I'm being called elsewhere, Felia wants me to check in on something. You stay here with the pilot ok?" Ro said, slowly turning Unit-06 to the side.

"Sure. Not much else I can do at this point." Shinji said.

Ro slowly turned his Eva towards the airfield that Felia had shown him and began to make his way to it slowly, his right hand throbbed and stung badly, the adrenaline rush from dealing with Unit-03 had worn off and the pain was getting worse. But he had to plough on into the night as the stars twinkled overhead.

* * *

Bright lights twinkled in the distance on distant buildings the hung on the underneath of Tokyo-3. It hadn't been long since entered into its night-time mode. The rectangular lights almost looked like stars in the night sky as Ritsuko brought a cup of hot coffee to her lips. She felt her bandaged head still throbbing in dull pain as she slowly drank the dark liquid. Her concentration was cut when she heard the door to the room open and a middle-aged woman in a Dr's outfit entered with a clipboard in her hand.

"Ah. I see your awake. My name is Dr Michelle Gottes Hammer. It is a pleasure and an honour to meet you Dr Ritsuko Akagi." The woman said as she approached Ritsuko.

The woman spoke with a thick German accent. Ritsuko couldn't recall the name, but it did sound familiar to her somewhat. She slowly began to rise from the chair that had been positioned by the window. "Likewise. Ow!"

Michelle gently shook her head as she saw Ritsuko put a hand to her head and sit straight back down into her chair. "Do not tell me that the prestigious Dr Akagi doesn't know when she has a concussion?" Michelle said with a smile on her face.

Ritsuko looked up at the middle-aged woman. "Prestigious is hardly the term I'd use to describe myself."

"Very true. My apologies."

Ritsuko sighed and took another sip of her coffee. "I was hoping to get some information. On a pilot for Project E. An Asuka Sohryu?"

"Ah! Little Asuka! Such a state she was in. Head injury. She's been sent straight to surgery. I was about to head that way as a matter of fact. Would you like to watch from the observation lounge?" Michelle said.

"I'd appreciate it. Thank you."

Michelle offered her hand to Ritsuko. "Here. Let me help you get around."

Ritsuko slowly stood up, her sense of balance was still a little off, but Dr Hammer managed to heft her weight quite easily it seemed. She guided Ritsuko slowly through the halls to a lift, taking them to the observation lounges. As the lift slowly jolted from one floor to another, Ritsuko noted a familiar looking badge on Dr Hammer's uniform and decided to make a query.

"So... your IPEA?"

"MMmmm?" Michelle initially responded before looking at her badge. "Oh, Ja. Recently transferred from the NERV-03 branch in Germany."

"Felia sure knows how to pick them." Ritsuko said, trying to hide the fact that she was rolling her eyes at another IPEA agent in the middle of NERV operations.

"Oh Nein. Felia's always been a fussy one. I used to babysit her for her mother. She'd always squirm whenever I changed her diapers. Asuka was no different. Now it seems I have to take care of Asuka once more."

The elevator slowed to a gentle stop and Michelle once more offered Ritsuko to hold onto her. She reluctantly agreed and took hold once more as they travelled onward into the hospital.

* * *

When the large black car arrived at the airport, Felia noted from the other side of the black tinted windows the large crowds of people standing a fair distance away from the entrance. The police had been doing their job in evacuating the populace. Seated with Felia were a couple of IPEA agents. She had no time to wait for NERV's security to travel to her to assist. It was better dealt with this way. Time was of the essence.

"How the hell can that woman be walking in and I'm not?"

"Because she's authorised to, now please stand back."

"Like hell I can! Now let me through!" The man shouted back.

The man started to push into the police line, irrespective of the reason or the law or the amount of trouble he would get into. As he began to push into the line, a couple of others began to push too, their patience similarly running out and joined in the effort. All of which was stopped as a large shadow passed over their heads. The ground suddenly shook and drove people to fall in a massive collapse as a large armoured feet slammed into the concrete, tarmac and grass that was laid before the entrance to the airport. Police vehicle's jumped as the large foot dug a large impression into the ground, cracking the tarmac and concrete around it as the large figure slowly took another step over the heads of the civilians and police. The Evangelion Unit stepped over the airport and began to walk onto the airfield.

As the crowd and police regained their composure and slowly stood up, the man that had first tried to barge the police line suddenly dusted himself off, the look of shock on his face as he came face to face with the officers getting up before him. He weakly smiled and tired to dust off their uniforms, making apologises for his behaviour.

Inside of the airport, Felia quickly dismissed the casual display that Ro had made in getting to the airfield. He was right on time. She dove into the breast pocket of her jacket. Now was another reason for no NERV security. Her ace in the hole. Time to get it ready.

"You there?"

"Felia?" Mari's voice came on the phone. "What's going on? Mr Kaji wouldn't tell me anything."

"Asuka is in critical condition. I need you to make preparations so that you can be ready to pilot Unit-02 in an emergency. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Felia cut off the phone call and put the phone back into her pocket as she and the IPEA agents walked into a doorway that lead to the main staircase up to the Control Tower of the airport. The trek upward took a few minutes before she was greeted by the Manager of the Control Tower.

"I understand you have a NERV craft on the tarmac with no communications?"

The Manager nodded and presented to her the microphone. "We've got NERV personnel down there trying to get in. We've also set up a three way link between you, the NERV personnel and the Evangelion on the tarmac."

Felia nodded. "Thank you. I'll take it from here."

* * *

Darkness and silence pervaded over the interior of the large dark plane, the main hanger that oversaw the cable mechanism for airlifting Unit-03 on its international trek from the United States were still, the engines gave a dull hum as they slowly died down, gently vibrating through the metal walls and floor.

The creak of metal slowly opening crept in as one of the side hatches was opened. Cones of bright lights shone into the interior, casting light across the untouched metal. The sound of rubber boots clunking on the floor was almost deafened by the roar of the engines as they just about died down. A team of rubber suits slowly made their way inside, closing the hatch behind them. Each one of them carried an automatic rifle with a strapped on torch to light their way.

The leader of the group put their fist up to make the group hold and then pressed onto an ear piece, checking in with Felia on their progress and next move. Once the orders Felia had given them were received, the leader motioned with their hand for the group to follow. They slowly and quietly moved along the hanger in a tight group, lights checking different corners of the hanger as they made their way to the cockpit of the plane. Where the crew supposedly were.

The group moved into two groups of three people, each group stood on either side of the doorway. The leader putting their hand on the release button that would open the door. They moved their head to check on both groups, all of them nodding with rifles at the ready.

The release button was pressed and the first two rushed into the room, only to be pushed back by large blue amorphous blobs with more rushing out to pounce on the rest of the team, each of them facing a mass of blue flesh slowly melting off human skulls that carried two red glowing eyes. Roaring into their faces with the team screaming back in terror.

* * *

"Ro! Incision team is down, assume hostile Angel. Take it out!" Felia ordered into the microphone.

Ro stepped his Eva towards the side of the plane, bringing up his left foot and slammed it downward onto the spine of the plane's main body. But the Evangelion's foot bounced off an AT-Field, making him take a couple of steps back. He used his left hand to pull Unit-06's Katana out of the sheath, spinning the blade till it pointed downward before stabbing at the AT-Field, cutting a line into it before pulling the blade out and ripping the AT-Field open with the left hand, keeping it open with his left foot before stabbing at the metallic body of the plane.

The spine of the plane opened up, bearing large fangs on either side as the blade slid through nothing but thin air and going through the belly of the plane. Like a trap, the fangs snapped shut, shattering the blade into pieces and making Ro back away before his Eva was snapped up in any more traps, watching the Angel slowly take control of the inside of the plane, converting it slowly into a form of its choosing.

The metal in the plane's wings broke and split apart, showing blue goo between the connected pieces as they curved inward towards the gaping max on the spine. The cockpit of the plane curved inward, the windows shattering and forming teeth as the Angel took shape. Getting up from being on its back and moving onto newly formed feet that was made from parts taken around the plane.

Ro looked on with his eyes getting wider at the sight of the Angel as it opened its maw, revealing the masses of human shapes inside as the depths of the plane began to glow red, inside he could see the shine of a core as it began to glow brighter and brighter with a blue hue, the neck bulged out as the head reared back.

Ro felt his instincts kick in and rolled his Evangelion to the left, avoiding the trail of blue fire the Angel fired from its mouth as it passed by him and took flight, heading straight for the Control Tower. It reared its head and fired a flaming ball straight at the Control Room where Felia stood.

She stared at it for a second before dashing for the staircase, soon followed by everyone else as they hurtled themselves down the stairs as fast as they could before the fireball impacted, shattering glass and smashing consoles before exploding, taking out the Control Tower. Flaming debris fell past Felia as she ran down the stairs, several steps at a time to get clear of the wreckage as fast as possible.

As the Control Tower exploded, the Angel flew past and began to circle around, coming in for another run on Ro and Unit-06. The right shoulder pylon opened up and Ro pulled out a Progressive Knife. Inside he was frantically switching between staying in contact with Felia and keeping his attention on the Angel circling above.

"Felia! Are you ok?!" Ro shouted into the intercom system.

"I'm ok! Make sure that Angel doesn't leave and terminate it at all costs!" Felia barked between heavy breaths as she kept running.

As Felia hung up, Ro cursed something in German under his breath as his eyes tracked the Angel flying over him and then watching it begin to swoop in low. Flying directly towards him. He began to run at the Angel, meeting it further down the runway as its head slammed into his mid-section, almost bowling him overhead and twisting him in the air. His Eva moving through the air, he stuck out his left hand and prayed the Knife would snag on something.

The Evangelion jolted as the Knife jammed into the left wing of the Angel, cutting through the blue flesh, the Angel roared in pain as it rose upward into the night time air, the pull of gravity and the rush of air and the cutting of the blade on the flesh made the knife slowly cut through the entirety of the wing until it ran out of wing to cut through and Ro was sent flying downward towards the lights on the ground.

Unit-06 slammed into the ground on its back, the impact jolted and slamming Ro into the chair behind him, he cried out loudly in pain as the impact coupled with the feedback of his Evangelion. Ro slowly put his good hand to his back to soothe it a bit, taking his eyes off of the Angel as the wing snapped off and the main body of the Angel hurtled through the air in a haphazard fashion, slamming into the tarmac and creating a large skid mark that threw up tarmac not too far away from Ro.

Ro winced and slowly rolled onto his right side before rolling onto his front, panting in pain as he looked at the Angel, it wasn't stirring from where it had stopped in the tarmac, he still held his Knife in the left hand, he plunged the blade into the tarmac and slowly pulled himself closer, getting a feeling for his legs, he slowly got to his knees, crawling slowly towards the Angel. He could see the open spine where the blade of his Katana had been broken. He eventually reached the Angel, its head was crooked to one side, blood slowly dripped from its mouth, he raised the Progressive Knife and jammed it into the neck of the Angel, slicing downward until the Knife met with the split in the spine. The core could be seen in the throat, surrounded by pulsating blue flesh and wiggling arms. Ro panted as he jammed the Progressive Knife deep into the red core. Now the Angel moved as sparks flew from the core, squirming underneath as the blue flesh tried to move to stop him, but he held the blade in deeply, jamming it in till the handle met with the outside of the core as it slowly expanded more and more, glowing brighter and brighter before exploding into a blinding light that engulfed Ro.

Ro slowly came to with a bright light shining before him, he slowly shook his head and opened his eyes more, the sight of the large cross in the night sky shone brightly before finally dying out to the darkness of the night. He winced and slowly moved his Evangelion, slowly sitting it up. He looked around, his Eva had landed on its back into the main airport building. Unit-06 creaked before falling back from a sitting up position onto its back, collapsing as if from exhaustion.

"Ro?! Are you alright?!" Felia shouted down the phone. It had been a while since he had heard her voice during the fight.

"Yeah. Just hurting. Ow..." Ro said, wincing at the pain in his right hand and back.

"You can take a rest now Ro."

* * *

Sparks flew as the welding tool slowly worked through the layers of metal that surrounded the main hatch to Unit-03's Entry Plug. The incision team had all donned the standard NERV hazmat suits, which made it harder to wear the welding helmet. It had been slow going through the night and they were nearly done cutting.

"Hey!" Shouted one of the crew to the cutter. "Command wants an update on when it'll be done!"

The man cutting into the Entry Plug paused for a moment, turning around and moving the welding mask upward. "Another few minutres and we'll be ready to remove the hatch. Can't say I feel comfortable though. Being watched by that... 'Thing' up there."

"That 'Thing' is an Evangelion. It's keeping an eye out for us." Shouted the first.

"Didn't one of them go rouge though?" Inquired the cutter.

"Yeah. But they stopped it. It's why your pulling double shifts to cut some poor kid out right now."

"Terrific." The cutter muttered sarcastically, pulling the welding mask down and resumed cutting through the metal. It had been a long day.

High above the team, Shinji Ikari watched from the seat of his Entry Plug as they discussed the progression of cutting the pilot out of the Entry Plug. It had been a nerve-racking day. Having to contend with an Evangelion that was hell-bent on killing him and his hesitation on tackling such an opponent. Since he didn't have anyone to speak to currently, he spoke to Makoto Hyuga at the Command Center for some sense of solace.

"So who is in the Entry Plug then?" Shinji asked.

"According to the rescue team at Matsushiro Base. The pilot is Toji Suzuhara, the Fourth Child." Makoto answered the query.

"Toji's in there?"

The Entry Plug hissed as the hatch was lifted upward by the samll crane. Slowly creaking upward, the cutting crew peered inside of the cyclinder, they recoiled in apparent terror and ran as far away as they could. Shinji had to wait a few more moments while the crane moved to the side to show him what the team on the ground saw.

Before him was a mass of blue flesh that slowly bubbled and twitched as the cold air blew across it. It had pushed itself along the entire interior of the Entry Plug. A black gloved hand could be seen reaching outward from amongst the quivering flesh.

"Toji!" Shinji explained.

"Status of the pilot!" Came Fuyutsuki's order on the intercom.

"It's no good! We can't get a clear reading. The Angel's masking everything with its own contamination. All we're getting is a blue blood type." Hyuga stated.

"We can still cut Toji out right?" Shinji questioned, it was then that his father came on the intercom system.

"Shinji. You can't save the pilot. You must destroy the target now."

"What? No! Toji's still inside! We have to cut him out!"

"It's either him or you!" His father shouted back.

"No! We have to save him!" Shinji protested.

Inside of the Command Center, Gendo remained in his seat, his son's protesting wasn't going to solve the situation, he needed to take control of it before it got out of hand. "No matter. Initiate the Dummy System once more!" He ordered.

"But Sir, the IPEA's lock on the main systems from the battle with Unit-03 is still in effect. It's preventing us from booting up the Dummy System." Maya stated.

"Do a complete reboot all of Unit-01's systems. Make sure the control circuits are switched from Manual to the Dummy System during boot up."

"Yes sir." Maya said, punching in the codes into her terminal.

* * *

Shinji was plunged forward into his seat as the entire Entry Plug fell dark and silent. He looked around, trying to find out what was going on until a screen in front of him showed a boot up message for Unit-01's systems.

"Its rebooting? What's going on?"

Shinji's questions went unheeded as a piece of tech behind him began to hum and come to life. The words: DUMMY SYSTEM began to shine in bright neon green colours. The windows around him flashed back on and he felt the Evangelion moving against him. The sensation of the Evangelion moving on its own felt unnerving. He moved the handles back and forth but got no response from the Eva.

The front screen before him automatically panned onto Toji amongst the blue flesh, he felt the right hand of Unit-01 raise and pull back. He grabbed at the controls for the right hand with both hands in an attempt to stop his Eva. All the while protesting loudly, which went unheard by Command.

"Destroy the target." Gendo's orders came clear on the radio.

Unit-01, failing to respond to its pilot's continued protests, pulled its right shoulder back a little more, the front screen in front of Shinji magnifying on the contents of the Entry Plug. Evangelion suddenly launched its right fist through the air, letting out a roar as the entire hand; fingers, knuckles, palm, all clenched up into a tight fist, came bearing down on the open Entry Plug.

The impact was sudden as blood, bone and sinew were pulverised and splattered across Unit-01's right hand. The Entry Plug caved in around the hand. Blood dripping down from the remains of the entry plug and Unit-01's hand. The rescue workers hiding nearby looked on in shock and horror at what they had seen as the anguished cries of Shinji rang out from Evangelion Unit-01 into the night sky.

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 09:**

**Part 2: Fury**

Ro slammed his good palm on the metallic button, the steaming hot water poured down his body, washing the LCL off of his body, the heat of the water relaxing his muscles, feeling the lingering tingles of pain in his spine. The hot water also made his right hand throb and sting with pain. He had kept the bandages on, feeling the wet cloth on the skin of his bruised knuckles.  
He put his put his good hand to his face, taking a couple of deep, slow breaths. The images of what he saw with the previous two Angels flashed before his eyes, It still felt so raw to him. He couldn't shake the images from his mind of the blue flesh that the Angel has utilised, something about it made him shiver a little. Suddenly, something caught his ear amongst all the water that splashed down his body and the tiled floor beneath him, he slowly lowered his hand, he turned his head to his right, finding three agents standing by the entrance.

"Your in my personal space." He growled at them.

One of the agents stepped forward, towel in his hand. He was big, muscular. Possibly about six foot in height. He towered over Ro Sohryu. Ro couldn't read the agent's eyes or that of his companions. The typical sunglasses prevented Ro from making clear eye contact with them.

"We have a problem."

Ro raised his head, he slammed the button once more with his left hand and the hot water stopped. His red eyes stared at the three agents in turn. Taking the towel from the agent that stepped forward to cover himself.

"What kind of problem?" Ro asked.

* * *

Fire raged on the floor of the Geofront outside of NERV Headquarters, standing wrecked among the flames were the twisted and broken pieces of a locking mechanism for an Evangelion. Plumes of smoke floated upward towards the ceiling high above.

As the fire raged on, spotlights were pointed upward at the top of NERV Headquarters, shining on the purple armour of Evangelion Unit-01. Below it a trail of hand and foot impressions could be seen going up the side of the pyramid.

Inside of the Command Center, the image of Unit-01 on top of the pyramid remained a constant presence as NERV staff rushed back and forth to find a way to bring Unit-01 under control. Fuyutsuki had joined the three NERV technicians at their consoles.

"We've cut all of Unit-01's synchronization circuits." Maya reported to the Vice Commander.

"And the ejection signal?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"It's been locked out from inside of the Entry Plug sir." Maya responded.

"He's locked himself inside of it." Shigeru muttered to himself as he looked at the main screen.

"Don't do this, Shinji! Think about what you're doing!" Hyuga shouted into the intercom, prompting his fellow technicians to look at him.

Shinji's response was relatively quiet. He wasn't screaming, but his tone carried anger on the intercom. "That's exactly what I'm doing, and your only making me angrier. Unit-01 has about two hundred and eighty five seconds left. That's enough time to destroy half of headquarters."

"In his current state, he might do it." Shigeru commented to the rest of his colleges.

This prompted Maya to rise up from her chair. "Shinji, please listen to us! You might've been killed if Commander Ikari hadn't made his decision!"

"That doesn't change a single thing." Shinji responded.

"But it's the truth!" Makoto said in a raised voice.

"I would've rather died then be a part of what you've done!" Shinji screamed back.

Shinji slammed Unit-01's right foot on the top of NERV, crushing the pointed section under his foot again and again, making the entire structure shake and rumble from the damage he was causing. All the while Gendo sat silently in his chair, watching the situation unfold before him.

"Shinji! What the fuck are you doing?!"

The shouting on the intercom system made Shinji stop, prompting him to look over from his place on top of the pyramid towards the source.

* * *

Slowly stepping towards the base of the Pyramid was Ro Sohryu in Unit-06, still fresh with the last Angel's blood splattered all over it. The right hand hung low while the left hand rested on the handle of the sheathed Katana at its waist.

"You should know exactly what I'm doing. My father used my hands to murder Toji. That bastard!"

Shinji slammed Unit-01's foot on the top of NERV, crushing the pointed section once again to hammer in his point.

"Hey! I don't know what kind of problem you have with your father, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't just sit there and let you die."

"It would've been better then killing Toji! I would've died then murder my friend!"

"Well that's all well and fine, but you can't take out your anger for your father on other people."

"Or what? Your gonna kill me?"

"My job is to bring you in line. Now get off of your high horse and that fuck off pyramid and actually grow a pair of balls and fight me." Ro snapped back. He was beginning to lose his patience. "You want something to fight with? You wanna get nuts? Come on! Let's get nuts!"

Instead of stepping off the pyramid like Ro had expected, Shinji crouched and leapt off the top of the pyramid at Ro, slamming both Evas to ground. Ro slammed into his seat once more, pain shooting through his back again from earlier. He gritted his teeth and working through the pain to grab onto the left control handle and put his left arm across Unit-06's body, pressing the forearm into the throat of Unit-01 in a bid to get Shinji off him. As Shinji tried to wrestle Ro off the ground, Unit-06's brought its feet up and slammed both of them into Shinji's mid-section. Making Shinji cough and knock him backward into NERV HQ, causing an Eva sized dent into the side of the pyramid.

Ro picked himself up as hastily as he could through the searing pain, throwing the Katana to one side, but Shinji was almost on top of him again, yelling out in rage as he charged towards Ro. Ro recoiled from the strike to his left cheek as Unit-01 punched hard and sent Unit-06 spinning for a moment. Ro rubbed his jaw for a second before stepping forward and delivering an equal punch into the right side of Unit-01's face place. Stunning Shinji for enough time for Ro to stretch out his left hand and grab the back of Unit-01's head. Pulling down hard with his left hand and raising his right knee, pushing the faceplate of Unit-01 into the rising knee of Unit-06 to stun Shinji inside before pulling Unit-01's head up and throwing him towards the square pond that adjoined with NERV HQ.

Ro looked around him for something he could use, finding the locking mechanism for the lift nearby, he used his left hand to pry apart the locking mechanism that would hold one arm of an Evangelion in place. Snapping off the top, thinner section and taking the wider bottom section in his left hand. Making an indentation in the metal to create a makeshift handle. Shinji picked himself up and charged Unit-01 towards him once more. Ro put the make-shift shield across his body and at the last moment swung the locking mechanism out to the side, striking Unit-01 in the face and knocking Shinji backward a couple of steps. Ro took the moment to step forward and delivered a left foot hard into Unit-01's mid-section, forcing Unit-01 to fly back and collapse into the large pond that sat adjoined to NERV HQ with a large splash.

* * *

As his Evangelion sank, Shinji's Evangelion shut down, running dark and silent as it slowly slid down to the bottom and bubbles slowly floated into Shinji's face as his vision eventually left him and he passed out inside of the Entry Plug.

His vision slowly came to, he was sitting inside of a train, watching the bright orange sunlight beaming in as the train continued on with its journey. No stops. No announcements. It was an old train. He recalled taking such one when he left for Tokyo-3. His classical music gently playing into his ears as the train slowly creaked and moved. Feeling every bit of inertia as the train travelled along the many, many tracks. Sitting before him was a silhouette, he could make out the contours of a person, a girl of his age, with Rei's blue hair and the same uniform.

To him, this was Rei Ayanami sitting before him. And she had a question.

"I noticed Ikari. Your always listening to that, aren't you?"

Shinji heard every word spoken and responded. "Yeah. It's something Dad used to have. But he didn't need it anymore, so he got rid of it and left it behind."

"Just like me."

Those last words were uttered by a shadow of a child that stood next to a large bag with its possessions inside. Possessions that Shinji once held, that once carried, that once cried tears over. But the current Shinji continued about the cassette tape he was listening to.

"I found it at my old teacher's place, so I took it. When I close up my ears, I can close up my heart to the outside world. That way, I don't have to deal with the problems such a cruel world brings."

"You find this world to be cruel?" Asked the silhouette in Rei's voice.

"That's right. The world where the father I hate lives. The world where Angels and Evas exist. Where I'm forced to do terrible things to my own friends, hurting them. Where my father doesn't need me as long as he has others to do it for him."

"Your nothing better than a doll like Wondergirl is. Replaceable, expendable, just a tool to be used and switched out when you don't do as your told." Exclaimed another shadow, the one that shaped itself like Asuka.

"Even though good things have happened, it all gets destroyed in the end. It's a cruel world. I thought that if I became a pilot, Dad would protect me from all of this. I was stupid enough into believing that."

"Did you honestly believe that your father would protect you, Ikari?" Asked the Rei shadow before him.

"I did." Shinji responded.

"Are you sure you didn't just sit there and do nothing? Even when your friend was-"

"Look! I tried to stop him!" Shinji shouted, cutting off the shadow in midsentence. "My father's the one that did it! He's the one that killed Toji! He's the one who abandoned me!"

"Even if that is true, you're just running away from the things you don't like." The shadow of his younger self said.

"So what? What's wrong with running away from the things I don't like? Just leave me be!"

* * *

The lift doors closed before Felia, shuttering her off from the image of Gendo Ikari at his desk with Fuyutsuki standing beside him. The damage that Shinji had done to the office was minimal, structurally anyway, but the construction of extra supports was needed if Gendo insisted on using it.

"Well... that went well. I think." Felia muttered as she straightened her jacket, standing beside her brother in the lift. Who was nursing a bruise on his jaw, among other injuries.

"You 'think' it went well?" Ro said in an annoyed tone. "'Disciplining troublesome children' he said. Shinji's finished as a pilot after this disaster. I'm gonna have to carry this team by myself if this keeps up."

Felia suddenly took hold of Ro's bandaged hand, his body jolted and suddenly fell to his knees as the pain shot through his arm and shoulder, gritting his teeth in pain as Felia held his hand lightly.

"Looks like you're not gonna be piloting for a while."

Ro panted and winced in paid as he held onto his bandaged wrist gently "I'll be fine, I just need time to rest it."

"You're going to the hospital to get a cast, I don't care what you say about rest. Your getting it treated." Felia said sternly.

Ro reluctantly nodded and Felia gently let go of Ro's hand. He soon picked himself up, brushing off his knees with his good hand, the pain still coursed through him. Felia crossed her arms, looking to one side, pondering on something before speaking up. "We're too vulnerable to let injuries keep us out of the game. We're short on Evangelions and manpower as it is."

"For fucks sake!" Ro cursed, rubbing his right wrist gently. "First Unit-04 with the rest of the team being ejected from the program in America and now Unit-03? Suppose your gonna tell me that it was an Angel that was behind the incident with Unit-04 right?"

"Actually it probably was something worse than Angels." Felia said.

"What could be worse than Angels?!" Ro snapped.

"While I was leaving, a piece of tech was uncovered. It had Zodiac markings. Combined with the fact that several unknown shipments arrived, along with a "Dummy System"... Well, it is all circumstantial. But, it's quite possible that Zodiac sabotaged Unit-04." Felia explained.

"Dummy System? You mean the one Gendo tried to boot up in Unit-01?" Ro asked.

"Yeah. If it wasn't for the fact that I authorised your launch, you can bet that Shinji would've had front row seats to his Unit tearing Unit-03 apart." Felia said.

"You think the system is that bad?" Ro asked.

"Possibly. It's a hunch, but I think a remote system along with an Evangelion is bad news." Felia said, shrugging her shoulders.

Ro looked at his big sister. "So we need all the pilots we can get. How's the search going in America?"

"I've got teams working on it, don't worry about them Ro, I know you was closer with them. What's the status of the Evas here in Japan?"

"My Eva's fine, both Unit-00 and Unit-01 are in for repairs. Unit-02 is still stuck in storage." Ro explained.

"Good. We still got a full team." Felia said quietly.

"A full team?" Ro exclaimed. He had obviously heard Felia's remark. "We're down by over half a dozen pilots, we'll be lucky if an Angel doesn't happen to just walk through the front door."

Felia didn't respond back, she stayed silent as Ro sighed and leaned against the elevator wall, looking upward as it gently moved down the levels of NERV HQ. Silence and the faint tick of the floor counter began to settle in on the room. Ro slowly stood up, still holding his right wrist in his left hand gently.

"How's Asuka?" Ro asked.

Felia looked up at her brother. "Not good. Last I heard."

* * *

Hovering before Mari was a holographic interface that was shining from the glove of her plug suit, gently sucking on a straw to a drink as she slowly looked through the files of the Evangelion Children. Smiling as she glanced as Shinji Ikari's image before scrolling to Asuka's profile, slowly scrolling the text down with a finger as she looked it over.

"What have you got there problem child?" Kaji inquired as he leaned against the doorway.

"Looking up Asuka's profile and..." Mari started before something caught her eye, she swiped the screen across and looked at another profile. "Hello... Felia Annata Sohryu. Wow, this is a pretty empty profile of her. What gives?"

"Well she didn't use to be Felia Sohryu. She used to go by the name Felia Shiki-!" Kaji said before a heavy report smacked on top of his head.

Mari looked up from the file to see a stern looking Felia holding on the report behind Kaji.

"Do NOT! Utter... that name again." Felia stated in a warning tone.

Kaji gave a small apology and rubbed the top of his head as Felia walked past him and moved to the holographic screen before Mari and swiped across the top of the screen, scrolling the files to Felia's younger sister Asuka.

"Your suppose to be studying my sister's profile anyway Mari. Your going to be using her Unit-02 while she's out of action."

"OOoouuuuu, the production model." Mari said as she leaned her head back to look at Felia standing behind her. "I'll try not to break it."

"Probably for the best, it's the only undamaged unit we have right now."

"Are you sure that's wise Felia?" Kaji questioned. "Commander Ikari would have alot of questions of Mari showed up."

Felia put the hefty report down and looked at Kaji sternly, stepping closer to him. "It's my call to make to ensure that things go according to the plan. And you know what happens when things don't go according to the plan?"

"Awwww the cute couple are arguing. Just kiss and make up already." Mari said through her cat-like smile.

"She does have a point." Kaji spoke with a smile on his face before Felia grabbed onto his jaw and squeezed his lips together.

"I'm actually heading out to meet up with your... what was it? Ex-girlfriend? 'Current' girlfriend?" Felia inquired.

"We had dinner once to catch up on old times. Nothing more."

"All the while spilling secrets like the good puppy that you are. Tell her what she needs to know to get her to poke her nose around NERV for us. The committee wants her on side for this."

"Oh, it's the committee now, not-"

"Ah ah Ryoji, not in front of the child." Felia said, motioning her head to Mari. "I best to be off. Try to keep her out of trouble."

"Yes ma'am." Kaji said as Felia left him with Mari sucking on a straw innocently.

* * *

The door to the apartment opened and standing before Misato Katsuragi was a very worried Pen-Pen, squawking away at the sight of her. She smiled gently and winced in pain as she bent over to pick up a couple of light bags with some food in it with her good hand. But her hand was blocked as another hand grabbed the handles and lifted them for her. She saw Felia standing beside her. "Fancy a hand?"

"Felia? When did you get back?" Misato questioned.

"Yesterday, during the whole mess with Unit-03. Heard they discharged you early." Felia said.

"Yeah. They gave me 48 hours rest before I go back to active duty." Misato said.

"Sounds harsh. Let's get you out of the cold and get you a drink." Felia suggested.

"Heh. Can't argue with that right now."

* * *

Felia watched as Colonel Misato Katsuragi loudly gulped down the contents of her beer can before letting out a loud sigh and then a burp. She was now just plain old Misato Katsuragi, hard to believe the transformation was done in the time it took for her to consume the contents of a beer can. Felia smiled and leaned back into her chair, her jacket hanging on the back. Besides them was Pen Pen, happily eating away at some much needed fish.

"Glad someone is happy at least." Felia noted.

"Wish I could be too. It's been a rough couple of days." Misato said in a tired voice.

Felia noted that Misato was looking down at her empty beer can, cradling it in her fingers whilst her work notes from the past two days were strewn about underneath. Felia took a sip of the coffee from her own can, she could imagine how Misato must be feeling.

"I know it's hard. Losing a pilot in those circumstances."

Misato looked up at Felia through tired eyes, the alcohol had only loosened her muscles a little, she was more relaxed now. Even the shoulder that the sling was wrapped around was lower as she relaxed.

"Toji Suzuhara. He is... was... one of Shinji's classmates. One of his... friends."

Felia looked at Misato as she said that, she was staring at her beer can again. Looking down and desperately needed a shot in the arm.

"Yeah. I saw the same report." Felia started. "But you can't blame yourself for what happened. You and Ritsuko did everything you could've done. Now we've got the task of picking ourselves up from this. We can't let the Angels win and I know you want to make them pay for what they did to your father. Make them pay for Toji as well."

"How are we gonna do that Felia? We've really been hung out to dry right now." Misato questioned.

"Let me handle the logistics of it Misato. I've got resources to back us up in dire situations. I don't keep all of my eggs in one basket." Felia said.

"Thanks. Can it fix everything in a day?" Misato joked.

"Heh. Not quite. It's gonna take some time. But I can put things in place to help NERV out with repairs to the city and to the Evangelions. I just hope we have enough pilots." Felia said.

Misato paused for a moment, her thoughts went to the incident of Unit-04. "They didn't tell me what happened in America."

"The short answer is, we got stabbed in the back. The Commander of the base took the S2 Engine and fled to an unknown location. He also returned the pilots to their parents. I've got people trying to get them back into the fold while looking for a lost S2 Engine. But it'll be a few days before I can get any results."

"Just one bit of bad luck after another." Misato muttered.

"I know, but I'm doing what I can Misato. Don't worry about it." Felia said in a reassuring manner. "You look beat Misato, its nearly six in the morning. Go get some rest."

"What about you?" Misato asked.

"I'll stay up for a little bit, then I'll catch up with the jet lag." Felia answered.

Misato nodded and slowly stood up from her chair, calling Pen Pen to follow her to the bedroom. Felia watched as Misato slowly walked with Pen Pen behind into her bedroom before Felia turned to her own coffee can and taking a swig of it. Feeling the caffeine enter into her bloodstream.

"Mmmm Picking ourselves up. I don't know if I can move this mountain at all." Felia muttered to herself.

She slowly stood up from the chair and took her jacket with her as she headed towards the temporary bed that she had set up in the main room. She put the coffee can down nearby and fell onto her side with a gentle thump on the bedding. Daylight began to slowly creep through the curtain, but her body desperately needed sleep. Her eyes slowly closed and she gently drifted off slowly into sleep until she felt a thump on her bed behind her, her eyes snapped opened as she held her breath. Her muscles tensing up at the prospect of a stranger behind her.

"It's just me." Ro said, reassuring her.

She relaxed, breathing slowly. The issue with the hand in the elevator crept in, she opened her mouth to say an apology...

"So what am I?" Ro asked out of the blue.

This question caught her off guard, she wasn't expecting such an unusual question. She turned her head towards her shoulder, looking over it at Ro on the other side of the bed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I did with Shinji in the Geofront to bring him in. Was that what I was supposed to do? Was that the point of all that training?"

Felia took a few moments to consider her answer. Ro had been trained to deal with rogue pilots alongside Angels. She decided to answer him.

"Ro, when you found those vulnerabilities a year ago, the IPEA acted on that. NERV refused to. But they knew that it could happen again and so I made sure that you and others could stop it. Because they don't want the Evas to be used for anything else than to defeat the Angels."

"So that's it huh? I'm just a... patchwork kid, who fixes everyone's problems?" Ro said.

Felia didn't respond to that, she looked at the sunlight cutting a path into the darkness of the room.

"But my question is, who fixes the patchwork kid?" He asked as he looked at his right hand, staring at the cast that had been put on it.

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers:

I realise this chapter has taken an extremely long time to release. Tackling health problems and having to rearrange some of the storyline to fit with the current plot points pointed out in this chapter have meant that its taken far long then expected to produce. So stay tuned for the next chapter of Genesis Evangelion when its next released!


	10. Chapter 10

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 10:**

**Part 1: The point of Absolute Zero**

The sudden snap of eyelids opening to the sound of an electronic buzzer going off, the click of metal and the hissing of compressed air, the loud gulping as the caffeine-filled liquid filled and flowed down Misato's throat. The sweet taste of alcohol would normally be what she would be gulping down. But not today. Or for the past few days in fact. Actually, as the caffeine entered into her system, she noticed that there wasn't any beer cans or wine bottles around her.

But she needed to get moving.

Misato promptly got changed into her NERV uniform, it felt good to finally have the cast off her arm, though it was still a little weak. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and picked up the phone, dialing in Felia's number. She waited as the dial tone kept going and going. Eventually it went to her voicemail.

Misato instantly hung the phone up. She didn't have time for this crap and picked up a bag containing her work files and slung it over the good shoulder, walking through her apartment. It was deathly quiet and still aside from her movements. She soon came to the front door and called back into the apartment to be sure there was some life in there.

"Asuka? I'm heading out now."

"Alright." Asuka responded back. At least she was awake. Misato slipped her feet into her shoes, pulling the zipper up on her jacket. But she was stopped as her door opened by itself and Kaji walked in through the door.

"Kaji? What are you doing here?"

* * *

**Thirty Days Ago**

"So, three Units have been lost in a matter of months." The first Monolith boomed over Gendo Ikari's head.

All of the SEELE Monoliths were surrounding Gendo in a circle. Staring down at him from behind the SEELE Logo. Gendo sat in the middle of the circle. His hands locked together in front of his mouth. He seemed unfazed by them as they continued to speak.

"Yes, first Unit-05 and then Unit-04, both were quite an unsettling setback."

"But the loss of Unit-03? How do you explain this course of action Ikari?"

"The Units lost are a hindrance to our plans. We've managed to establish that the Angel infected Unit-03 on route to NERV. Even in transport the Evangelions are not fully secure." Gendo calmly explained.

"And the response to Unit-03's infection?"

"Fortunately only the testing facility was damaged with minimal loss of life. Unit-03, and its pilot, were subsequently terminated." Gendo stated.

"And the progression of the dummy system? We've heard some startling claims."

"The system will be ready on schedule, but the option for its use can be been taken at any time if required." Gendo said flatly.

_Starling claims_. That sentence alone confirmed half a dozen theories that Gendo had in mind. But they remained simply theories until proven. Gendo made no difference to his expression. But he shelved that sentence to the back of his mind for later. He would need a word with someone about this later.

"And for security?" SEELE continued to ask.

"We are maintaining our Units and restricting all travel for the time being. For the moment the numbers will suffice, however more parts to repair the current Units will be required though." Gendo said.

"The request for Unit-00 again?"

Gendo hated how they could pick out such a trivial issue. But he had a comeback to that. "We are adapting all the models to a standard level, the parts will be interchangeable."

SEELE were silent for a moment. They were obviously thinking it over. "The request will be approved. For now."

Surprising that they actually considered relenting to Gendo's request. It wasn't often that such a thing would occur. Unless something played into their hands. The monoliths boomed over him once more. "Our only desire has always been the "true" Evangelion. The necessary rites must be completed before it's awakening. It's crucial we do not maintain any more losses."

"Of course, I am aware of this, I can assure you that everything will go according to SEELE's plan."

The Monoliths all vanished into the darkness of the room. Leaving Gendo alone in the middle of the room. His Vice Commander, Fuyustuki, had been standing silent by his side.

"The true Evangelion." Gendo spoke.

As those words finished. The room of darkness continued to be oppressive with a deep hum. The conversation ended and the facade was over for now. Gendo and Fuyutsuki could speak briefly.

"They see all of our Units, including Unit-01 as merely simple placeholders for its completion."

"That's the purpose of the new series then? They decided to start constructing an entirely new god instead of false imitations of the old one?" Fuyustuki asked.

"Yes. We must hasten our plans for Unit-01's awakening."

* * *

**Twenty Eight Days Ago**

"Are they letting you out this early?"

Misato slowly stepped up to her friend Ritsuko as the question was pointed at her. She had literally just arrived and had already been given orders to help with the dissection and extraction of Unit-03's remnants. But it had taken over forty eight hours to fully clear the site of any possible sign of infection from the Angel. The warnings about secondary infection had NERV fully concerned about every possible scenario. Even IPEA staff were in protective hazmat gear as they handled the pieces of Eva that had caused so much pain and destruction.

"They only gave me a few days. Couldn't just let an idle hand go to waste." Misato said, her hand unconsciously going to the cast on her arm.

"Guess you can't take a vacation at a time like this..." Ritsuko said, her words trailing off as a large section of a forearm was being craned upward into the sky and away from the small crater it had made in the ground.

"How's Shinji?" Misato asked.

"He's in the hospital." Ritsuko started in a factual tone. "After the stunt he pulled in the Geofront he was forcily removed from the entry plug. They had to cut open the emergency hatch with a weilding laser. Our operational capacity has been vastly reduced from five to two pilots. With only two Evangelions fully operational."

Misato put her good hand on her head, taking it all in and letting out a sigh. "When you put it like that... We've really been hung out to dry this time."

* * *

The hospital elevator was slow in going up the floors. Felia, with phone pressed against her ear, gently tapped on the plastic casing. Her paitence had started to wear thin. The annoyance could clearly be seen on her face. The news she was recieving was not good. Finally she exploded.

"What? What do you mean America is pulling out of the program?! The IPEA's still got assets in this!"

Felia listened as the panicked receiver to her outburst stammered and stuttered his explanation to her. Making her annoyance turn further into rage as she started to bare her teeth.

"How has that traitorous commander still got access? Your suppose to overrule him!" She screamed down the phone at her operative. Once more she got a more timid response from America.

"I don't care if he's changed the codes. Go in guns blazing, that's what you Americans are good at right?!" She screamed before pressing heavily on the end call button of her phone. "Ugh! Idiot!"

Felia let out a loud sigh. This wasn't the news that she had been expecting at all. America seemed like it was falling apart and the events of the past couple of days had not helped in the decision making over there. She closed her eyes for a few moments, letting the elevator take her up the floors slowly. Listening to the gentle elevator music before the doorbell rang and the doors opened before her. She know had to have a meeting with Asuka's surgeon.

"Michele? I didn't realise you were made Asuka's surgeon." Felia said with a surprised look on her face.

Dr Michelle Gottes Hammer stood before her, stepping into the elevator with a slight smile and a look of nostalgia on her face.

"Felia. It's been a long while since I've seen you. Oh you do resemble Mrs Kyoto so well now." Said the older woman.

Felia couldn't help but chuckle. Michelle had been the family doctor for as long as Felia knew. Looking after her, Asuka and Ro whilst their mother was at work being a scientist. Her tone was always one to calm Felia down even after getting so stressed with things.

"Heh. Thanks. But still, could've told me when you landed." Felia said, raising her lips to the coffee cup once more.

"Ja ja. I know." Michele said with a sigh and a wave of her hand. "But when little Asuka was hurt, I didn't have time to make a call."

Felia's eyes lowered at the mention of her sister, her hand following her eyeline downward from her lips. Things had been so hectic that this was the only time she had in checking in on her. Her eyes slowly looked up at the older woman. "How is she?"

"She'll live." Michelle flatly stated. "I did what I could for little Asuka. But she will have to adapt to things a little different from now on."

"Will she...?"

"She... will have to adjust to the lack of depth perception. But she'll be back to piloting status in a couple of months give or take."

"I... See."

"Do not worry Ms Sohryu, I'll look after little Asuka for you. I did the same for Mrs Kyoto when I was changing little Asuka's diapers."

"Now you're just making me feel old."

"Would you like to get some more coffee?"

Felia shook the cup gently, the last remnants sloshed about at the bottom of the cup. "Yeah. I'm gonna need it."

* * *

The loud clang of heavy metal sliding to one side brought blinding light that shone through a wired mesh. Covering Shinji Ikari in light and shadow as a figure stood on the one side of the side. Shinji looked down to his wrists, which were bound by the numerous cuffs that had been placed on him after he had recovered from the hospital. The wired mesh slowly moved to one side and the shadowy figure approached him.

"Hey Shinji."

Shinji slowly looked up at the figure, finding a can of coffee being offered to him by Kaji.

"Mr Kaji? What are you doing here?" Shinji inquired, blinking a few times in surprise.

"Being a friendly face. Besides, I've been requested to escort you to your father." Kaji said with a slight smile.

Shinji bowed his head, looking at the floor once more, ignoring the drink in Kaji's hand. "Requested. More like ordered."

"Well he asked me and I chose to accept. I do it because I want to." Kaji said, retracting the drink offered to Shinji and opened it, taking a sip of it.

"Well. I don't "want" to have anything to do with my father." Shinji stated.

"Suit yourself. But he would still like to see you."

Shinji stood up. He felt the texture of the metal cuffs moving on the skin of his wrists. He silently walked past Kaji.

"Your just being nice about it Mr Kaji."

* * *

"Insubordination. Damage to NERV property. Even going so far of attempted murder of NERV staff. What do you say to these charges?"

Those were the first words out of his father's mouth. They echoed in the large office around Shinji Ikari. The sounds of construction that came from above him was dull and muffled. He had been locked up long enough for the repairs to be started on the building. He looked at his father, who was unmoving from his desk.

"Attempted murder? Why are you so worried when you have me murder the staff anyway? When you have me murder my best friend?"

"This is not about the pilot."

"Yes it is! It's all about him!" Shinji exclaimed back. That fire of emotion exploding once more. Snapping like a twig. "I don't want to be anywhere near you! I quit!"

Shinji's explosive outburst left Gendo quiet for a few moments, the only sound in the office was of Shinji's heavy breathing. Gendo, although quiet, was still visibly unmoved.

"So your running anyway from your problems yet again. If you want to grow up and be a man, you'll have to take responsibility for your actions."

"You say that." Shinji started in a stern voice as he looked at his father. "But I don't think you know what that means. I'm done. I'm leaving. Goodbye."

As his son left the room with Kaji following behind him, Gendo watched them leave. Giving himself a few moments of quietness in the large expansive office before picking up the phone on his desk.

"It's Ikari. Remove the Third Child from the records."

* * *

Shinji stood in front of the elevator doors, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu pang inside of him. The bag slung from his shoulder, ear buds in his ears listening to music. The sound of birds chirping as the sun beamed down.

Eventually, the doors opened and Ro Sohryu stepped out in front of him, looking a little surprised. They both stared each other for a long moment. Shinji noted the bag slung on Ro's left shoulder. It was his turn to speak first.

"I suppose your gonna be replacing me at Misato's then?"

Ro didn't immediately answer and Shinji didn't wait for one either, he slowly took a few steps passed the Sixth Child towards the elevator doors.

"Actually..." Ro started, stopping Shinji for a moment. "...The bag's empty. I'm picking a few things up for Asuka for when she wakes up at the hospital. Felia's got me stationed at NERV HQ for the time being. Misato's gonna be alone for a while at least."

Shinji stood still, silently listening, his feet inches from the elevator door.

"Ikari? You sure about leaving when we're all beat to hell as it is?" Ro inquired.

"This isn't my fight anymore. They have you. They have a dummy to replace me. I'm not needed here anymore. I'm leaving." Shinji responded before entering the elevator doors and letting them close behind him.

* * *

Asuka felt her muscles moving as she burst through the opening elevator doors, she was running down a path that felt so familiar to her, her shoes echoing on the hard surface of a hospital floor, hair flowing behind her as she traversed the corridor. Running and dodging around the tree trunks of people's legs and feet, a smile on her face as she ran full steam ahead towards a door that she knew all too well.

The door swung wide open. Before Asuka was a figure, hanging from the ceiling. The body slowly swaying and spinning before her. The pang of rememberance hit her straight into the chest, but there was a sense of difference as well. This was the same as before, but something was different. The figure slowly spun forward, showing its face to her. Her expression went into shock as she stared at herself, the left eye was missing, blood slowly seeping from the empty hole.

The world began to shatter on one side, her left side. She felt a sharp pain in her left eye and put a hand on her eye. The pain grew more and more intense. She collasped to her knees, the pain was searing straight into her brain. She threw her head back and cried out in pain as she stared up at the roof of the hospital room. Bright lights shone down on her like spotlights.

And then it all stopped.

She blinked. But she could only blink with one eye. Her vision was completely black on the left side.

The beep of the machines close by to her hospital bed guided her into the real world. It took a few moments for her to realise it was reality. She hurt all over, but the left eye socket felt devoid of feeling, like a sea of cold numbness in a tornado of heated pain. She slowly raised her left hand up and felt the touch of bandages on her hand and arm, moving as she moved. Wrapped around her. Her fingertips shook gently as she felt the touch of bandages surrounding her left eye. Feeling the tape that held the bandages on. The lack of vision, the lack of sensation of her left eye.

She suddenly knew why there wasn't any feeling in her left eye socket.

* * *

Shinji slowly walked from the grasp of the NERV Agents that had been at his side all day and headed toward the ticket barrier. His steps slowed to a stop as he saw Misato. Noting her bandages and her left arm covered in a cast with a bandage from her shoulder to the wrist, keeping it in place.

She looked at him and he stared at her. Seconds, moments, fractions of time passed as the gentle air and the hot rays of sunlight moved between them. In the distance could be heard the train approaching the station. It's wheels occasionally screeching on the rails.

Not a single word was said, everything that could've been said had already been said in one form of another. There was no need to repeat the same thing over and over. It would just go around in circles. Like the world spinning.

And Shinji wanted the world to stop so he could get off.

His eyes slowly lowered down to Misato's feet, he slowly stepped forward. His eyes down as he stepped past Misato and went through the ticket barrier as the train pulled in to the station, giving Misato one last look as he stepped into the carriage and let the doors close behind him.

As the train slowly began to rumble onward along the tracks, Shinji took a solitary seat in an empty carriage. His hand started to go for his pocket, but then it stopped. The pocket was empty. He'd thrown the music player away. It was the only thing that reminded him of his father.

And he wanted none of it anymore.

He sat in silence on the train as it gently rocked, Tokyo-3 was slowly fading from his view and he was about to leave the city limits.

But then the lights went red and an announcement was blared out on the speakers of the train carriage.

"Due to a state of emergency. This train is now being diverted to a shelter. Repeat. Due to a state of emergency. This train is now being diverted to a shelter."

"It's an Angel." Shinji said to himself.

* * *

The Command Center was a flurry of activity as alerts popped up everywhere as the Angel made its presence known with another attack that rocked the staff in the Command Center. The damage report came in loudly on the loudspeaker as the the staff slowly got back to their feet.

"Direct hit on District 4! Surface systems have been destroyed! Layers one to twenty four have been compromised! The Geofront has been breached!"

"All twenty four layers of specialized plate armour with one strike? How is that even possible?" Makoto questioned himself as he picked himself up from the floor and sat back in his chair. The fact that the city itself offered little protection from the Angel made him very afraid.

"It's just as the Dead Sea Scrolls predicted. The fourteenth Angel is carving a path of complete destruction straight to our heart." Fuyutsuki stated as surveillance of the Angel showed its form to the rest of the staff.

* * *

The train car that carried the Agent's black car shook as a violent shockwave rocked through the transit system. Misato stumbled from the rocking motion of the car, the only thing stopping her from falling onto the metal floor was the nearby Agent standing behind her.

"If I can feel the shockwave from way down here. Then we're in trouble." She noted to herself.

She stood up and rushed over to the telephone booth that sat beside the car, quickly punching in the numbers to get in contact with the Command Center. Thankfully she was quickly patched through.

"Status Red! We need every weapon at our disposal firing at this target! We need to do whatever it takes! Hold it back at all costs!"

As Misato gave those orders on the phone, a large mass moved upward past her towards the surface, it was Unit-02. Quickly followed with a large amount of ammunition for a variety of weapons that were being launched with it.

"Their launching Unit-02? Who's piloting it?" Misato quizzed the operator at the other end of the line.

"Unknown! Operations did NOT order its launch!"

* * *

Every gun and missile emplacement surrounding Tokyo-3 was firing round after round, missile after missile at the Angel as it slowly advanced on them, it's AT-Field taking fire from all angles. Seemingly unfazed, even when a large N2 Missile rammed itself into the Angel's face, the warhead crumpling on the impact, then another N2 Missile. Followed by seven more that rammed themselves into the AT-Field before they all exploded at the same time. Sending a massive shockwave through the city that rocked the already damaged buildings. Firey clouds trailed downward as the shrapnel from the missile fell to earth.

From the firey clouds a large shape floated through, trailed by smoke as the Angel appeared utterly unscathed. The dark eyes on its face suddenly went bright and it made another attack, wiping out all of the gun and missile emplacements in one fell swoop, crosses dotted around the city like a circular fence as the Angel removed every last bit of opposition standing in its way.

* * *

As Makoto blared at another order for the defence force to fire a second volley of N2 Missiles, so did Misato finally make it to the Commander Center, her jacket had fallen off the bad shoulder as she rushed to her position to give orders.

"The Evangelions won't have time to intercept the target above the Geofront, contact Felia and tell her to launch Unit-06 straight to the Geofront! How's Unit-00?

"We're reattaching the left arm as we speak, it'll take a few minutes. We're also getting the dummy plug ready for Unit-01." Ritsuko responded.

"What's the situation with Unit-02? Can we get eyes on who's piloting it?" Misato questioned.

Maya learned back in her seat as she confirmed the information on her terminal. "The two-way link is being blocked! We can't get through!"

"Is that so?" Misato said quitely, a frown came upon her face as she noted something to herself. "So "they" want to do this by themselves then do they?"

* * *

**Genesis Evangelion - The Case of Ro Sohryu:**

**Episode 10:**

**Part 2: Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil**

Mari flexed her left hand. Opening and closing it several times, getting used to the sensation of movement within the Evangelion. The screen to her left showed the Evangelion moving in sync with her movements. She took in a deep breath and smiled.

"Ah! Fresh LCL! And I don't mind that it smells like the last pilot."

Ahead of Mari was the large smoke clouds flowing between the falling buildings as they swung and fell onto the Geofront floor. It wasn't long below a large dark shape effortlessly floated through the dark smoke that flowed between the buildings. The Angel was here.

"It's already breached the fifth line of defence. Well, if I don't act fast then there will be nothing for the main actor to save! Speaking of which, lets start the first act!"

Mari picked up both rifles, aiming them with each hand and squeezed the triggers, letting bullets fly towards the Angel. They flew with bright flares tracing behind them before each and every bullet bounced and ricocheted off the AT-Field.

As the Angel slowly descended towards Mari, the AT-Field moved, expanding forward, showing layer after later of the Angel's AT-Field. Demonstrating its sheer strength as the bullets were being pushed back further from the Angel and further towards Unit-02. Mari leant back in her seat as the ammo clips were close to drying up.

"Oh man! That's a strong AT-Field! There's no-way I'm gonna be able to get through that by myself! Looks like I'll have to go from solo to duet."

* * *

Out of the tunnel and thundering down the track came a train carrying a series of platforms. Each one had large bulky blocks on them that soon hissed and puffed out smoke that blew into the wind, large metallic covers flying off to expose large armaments ranging from rocket launchers to mini-guns, all of which turned, pointing towards and aiming at the Angel as it flew above in the sky. Unit-06 was crouched in the middle of the train, wearing a large backpack with an Evangelion sized AA12 Shotgun strapped to each side of the backpack. The Unit slowly sat up and got to its knees before it stood up on the platform as the train came close to NERV HQ.

Ro grabbed onto a large tarp with one hand, pulling the cover off in one motion and letting the tarp fly into the wind, revealing a Vulcan gun emplacement. He grabbed both handles on the weapon and turned it towards the Angel. Pressing the large buttons on the trigger handles with both thumbs, the multiple barrels began to spin until it reached the optimum rotational speed to begin firing bullets at the Angel. The other weapon platforms following his lead in shooting at the Angel.

The bullets had the same effect as with Unit-02's attack, bouncing off with little damage to the AT-Field. The missiles that followed impacted with the field before exploding, sending out plumes of smoke. After a few short seconds of the smoke clearing, the Angel could still be seen floating harmlessly in the air. It slowly turned its head towards Ro and a flash in its eyes shot out, Ro moved suddenly and put a foot onto the gun emplacement and leaped off as the train as the tracks behind him exploded in a series of large purple crosses.

He landed a fair distance from the tracks, tucking the Eva into a forward roll and then steadied himself into a kneeling position as the train tracks collapsed and the train derailed, flying off the tracks and slamming into the ground below.

* * *

The shelter was a serious of storage rooms that were as high as they were tall, people set up blankets and mattresses onto the various storage shelves to make space for others. Shinji had managed to find a corner that he sat in, his legs pulled up as he stared into his knees. Noises of conversation went on around him. People talking, babies crying, people complaining. He started to crawl into his thoughts to drown those people out.

"Hey! Shinji!"

Shinji's ears had picked up on the voice amongst the crowd, he looked up and saw Kaji walking towards him. Stepping over and between the other refugees.

"Mr Kaji? What are you doing here?"

The large man sat down next to Shinji, relaxing against the wall. "Well I was attending to my watermelons when they forced me into this shelter. Quite a coincidence that we meet again. Especially since you was leaving last I heard."

"I couldn't leave the city. The Angel made the train turn around."

* * *

Mari slammed her foot into the pressure pad that started off a chain of explosives that blew each piece of the cover off the weapon's crate. The inside of the crate had the word labelling of THUNDER SPEAR on the packaging around the weapon. The final explosion launched the weapon upward and turned the weapon on the vertical axis. Mari caught the top handle of the weapon with one hand and readied herself.

"Lets see what this bad boy can do."

She charged Unit-02 forward into a full speed run towards the Angel. The blade flipping like a switchblade before Mari lept Unit-02 into the air before slamming down into the Angel's AT-Field. The blade struck the field, but failed to penetrate. Unit-02 slowly began to tip over to the side before the field began to cave inward and then thrusted outward, pushing Unit-02 and the Thunder Spear into the air and sending Mari flying into some of the debris. Stunning her for a few moments as she laid in the crater Unit-02 had made into the building upon impact.

"DODGE!"

Mari looked around her as the word was screamed into the comm at her, instantly righting the Eva up and throwing the Unit into a backflip as the Angel's AT-Field bared down on the spot that she was stationary at a moment ago. She crotched Unit-02 behind some cover as the dust settled from the Angel's attack.

"You know, if you was half as good as you seem to be, maybe you should be taking better care of my sister's Evangelion!" Ro's voice on the comm came across to Mari. The visual was still cut from her Entry Plug.

"Funny, because it seems you lack quite a bit of knowledge on just what an Eva can do." Mari said back with a smile.

"What the hell are you talk...?" Ro said before cutting himself off. He took a moment to realise something.

"Hey, just a quick thing to throw out." Ro started before ducking under cover as the Angel fired overhead. "You wouldn't happen to be the one that tipped me off about a certain Angel would you?"

Mari rolled Unit-02 from behind cover to another building, getting the Angel's attention from the moment, it fired at where she was hiding. She let the explosion die down before answering him.

"Maybe. If we both get out of this, we'll discuss it later. For now, I need you to keep this Angel busy for me."

"What the hell for?" Ro questioned. But Mari's answer was interrupted as the Angel's eyes shone once again as it struck a piece of debris close by to the Units.

"Because I don't have any weapons. Keep it busy while I re-arm, it shouldn't be too hard for someone like you." Mari stated as the dust clouds floated by them.

Ro shook his head, giving it a moment before he dived over the top of the remains of a tower block as the space his Evangelion was standing was soon sent shooting upwards with an explosion. Causing debris and dirt to fly up and cover him. He scrambled towards another piece of debris, putting the building between him and the Angel. Huffing and puffing from the exertion.

"Right. Keep it busy she says. Shouldn't be too hard she says." Ro muttered to himself.

Ro brought up his shotguns, looking at the one in his right hand. It had partially melted and was useless. He instantly threw it away while letting off a curse under his breath in German, focusing on just the one shotgun he had left. He pulled the top slider back and then slid it fully forward before sliding the small rectangular magazine and soon replaced it with a large circular magazine from the large backpack that he was carrying. He pulled the slider back and then locked it. Taking a couple of seconds to get his breath.

He sprung up from the cover and pulled the trigger, keeping it held as round after round of large shotgun shells thumped from the barrel with a loud boom and hit the Angel's AT-Field. Exploding on contact and putting out a lot of smoke.

Round after round flew from the side of the shotgun till the circular magazine ran out. As the smoke began to settle and drift away, Ro saw the Angel slowly turn towards him. It hadn't been phased at all, let alone damaged.

"Oh Shhiii..." Ro trailed off as he lunged his Evangelion to the right as the eyes of the Angel blazed brightly, the area where Ro had just been was fully engulfed in a large purple pillar, causing the ground around it to rupture and lift off, bouncing his Evangelion along the ground of the Geofront.

* * *

"Let's get a better look." Mari said as she slowly stood up from her seat. "Oh man. It's kicking ass so far."

The sentence is topped off with Ro dodging another attack from the Angel, firing back whenever he can, using cover to block the Angel's line of sight. But it does little to stop it from locking on to him.

"Such a good boy. Always willing to follow a woman's direction." Mari noted as Ro bounced around drawing the Angel's fire.

"As for Unit-02 on the other hand. It can't fight the Angel in this state. So I guess I'll have to strip away it's humanity." Mari said as she readjusted her glasses. "Enter Verbal Command. Back Door Code. The BEAST!"

As she exclaimed the code words. The inside of the Entry Plug went into a moment of darkness before red lighting switched on inside. The words "**BEAST**" were repeated in lines across the inside of the Entry Plug in bright red letters.

* * *

"How long till Unit-00 is ready for combat?" Misato asked.

"Just a couple more minutes. It'll be ready to join in if the Evas keep the Angel busy." Ritsuko responded.

"And Unit-01?"

"We're inserting the dummy plug now. Activation in five seconds." Maya responded as she typed away on her terminal.

As the countdown reached zero, the entire wall lit up with error messages. Unit-01 failed to activate.

"What happened?" Ritsuko questioned.

"Unit-01's shutting down! It's rejected the signal. Starting the activation sequence again." Maya stated as she typed in the activation sequence into her terminal.

"Unit-01's rejected the dummy plug." Fuyutsuki quietly noted as the technicians tried repeatedly to activate the Eva.

"Yes. Does this mean Yui is rejecting me?" Gendo questioned quietly before standing up from his seat, turning to the Vice-Commander. "Fuyutsuki. Take over for me for a while. I'll oversee the activation of Unit-01 personally."

* * *

"This Shelter has been designated as being in an unsafe area. Please evacuate. Repeat. This Shelter has been designated as being in an unsafe area. Please evacuate."

As the announcement was given, so did people start to rise, the doorway leading into the area was opened with stewards in bright orange vests guiding people out. As the rest of the refugees slowly flowed through the doorway, Shinji and Kaji remained seated. Shinji had his gaze locked onto his knees. After a few moments, Kaji broke the silence.

"Your not gonna go out there?"

"No." Shinji replied, keeping his gaze to his knees. "I'm done fighting. I don't want to pilot the Eva anymore."

Kaji leaned back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "That's too bad, cause from what I hear, things aren't going too well."

* * *

Ro slowly picked his Eva up, dust and dirt slid and fell off the armour. Slowly getting to all fours from the ground. As he panted and struggled to get his way out of the debris, a dark shadow loomed over his Eva. He turned to see the fourteenth Angel hovering over him. His mind instantly started to think of another curse to throw out.

An object flew through the air and slammed into the Angel's AT-Field, causing a loud sound like a bell being struck to reverberate throughout the Geofront. The shock of impact knocked Ro backwards a bit, raising his left forearm in protection.

The ringing in Ro's ears had barely subsided before another impact knocked into the Angel's AT-Field. Then another and another. Ro looked over the top of his forearm at the figure smashing through layer after layer of the Angel's AT-Field.

"What? Unit-02's in its beastial form?! How the hell does that bitch know of the beast form of the Evas?!" He cried out in surprise.

* * *

"What the hell is going on with Unit-02?!" Misato shouted as she came up to Maya and Ritsuko. "What is the functionality of that form?"

"I don't know." Maya responded as she looked through the readout of Unit-02's systems. "All of the safety systems and the main restrictors, they are all offline. Even the Entry Plug readout is being turned off. The last readings show the pilot going into the negative range."

Ritsuko rested her right hand on the back of Maya's chair, looking at the data before turning to Misato. "If the pilot goes into the negative range, they are at risk of severe contamination from the Evangelion. At this point though, its a gamble the pilot clearly believes its worth the risk."

* * *

Mari plunged fist after fist into the AT-Field of the Angel as the five minute timer counted down second by second, smashing through layer after layer with wild abandon, screaming with every fist thrown forward, noticing too late that as she made progress, so the Angel brought its flat arms inward, condensing them into cylinders that then shot forward, pushing the crimson Unit backward through the smashed layers of the Angel's AT-Field.

A single flick from the arms immediately sliced through the left shoulder, cutting it off at the shoulder socket, sending Unit-02 flying backwards as the severed arm was sent flying upward into the air before making a large splash as it crashed into the nearby river.

Mari bared her teeth as the Eva rolled backward into a crotch, lunging the crimson beast forward with all of her rage and fury, a primal scream that was cut short as the Angel shot its arms forward once more, slicing through the right side of the Evangelion's head and knocking it back down.

* * *

Inside of the Command Center, the staff looked on as one Evangelion had fallen to the Angel. The damage report was coming in as the main display screen focused on where Unit-02 had fallen.

"The pilot released the inner beast of Unit-02. But even with all of that strength, it still couldn't win against the Angel. We're almost out of options."

As Ritsuko uttered those stern words, the large figure of Unit-00 rose from the ground, it was crotched down as it appeared before them. It's arm was wrapped in large bandages. A temporary solution for the reattachment of the limb.

"Rei? But she doesn't even have a rifle!" Misato exclaimed as she noted the large missile resting on Unit-00's shoulders as Rei held the missile in Unit-00's arms.

* * *

Rei's eyes were locked onto the Angel as she pushed her controls forward, plunging Unit-00 into a full speed run towards the Angel. Slamming the N2 Missile in her hands into the strong AT-Field of the Angel, which stopped the missile dead in its tracks.

"AT-Field. Maximum power." Rei said as she pushed further forward on her controls, struggling against the Angel's AT-Field.

Unit-00's AT-Field began to manifest in a conial shape that focused at the tip of the missile. The engine component of the N2 Missile engaged as well, letting four cones of jet propulsion kick in and push the missile against the Angel's AT-Field, which failed to budge even with all of the force pressed against it.

In fact, it slowly started to push the missile and Unit-00 back. The Eva's feet digging into the ground as the newly attached arm slowly began to bleed as the freshly attached ligaments started to stretch and snap from the exertion.

"The field is too strong! A single Eva can't get through!" Misato exclaimed.

"There's two more AT-Fields being merged with Unit-00's!" Maya shouted from her terminal.

* * *

Ro lunged forward with the tip of his katana slicing into the Angel's AT-Field, trying to pierce it enough to give the N2 Missile some more penetration. Putting all of the power of his AT-Field against the Angel's. But like the N2 Missile, the tip of the katana crumpled and the blade shortened before snapping half way down the blade, pushing Ro back.

Unit-02, in its beastial form, crawled and limped towards the Angel's AT-Field, biting the layer and using its teeth to rip and tear through the layer, it finally came away like fabric being ripped before Unit-02 went for the next layer.

This time it was joined by Unit-06, gripping the AT-Field with its fingers and the both of the pulled and ripped their way through the layers of the Angel, the N2 Missile slowly inching forward as the three of them worked in unison.

Finally the last layer of the Angel was torn, the N2 Missile easily flew through the air towards the Angel's red core. But at the last moment, bone popped through the Angel's body like teeth and snapped shut around the core, protecting it as the crumpled warhead slammed into it.

All three pilots looked on in shock as the warhead exploded on impact and all that they could see was the brightness of a large explosion that rocked through the Geofront, a small mushroom cloud plumed upward, bursting through the top of the Geofront as the energy that was released sent a shockwave through the rest of the Geofront before being followed by the explosive fireball.

* * *

Kaji slowly raised his head as the shelter slowed rumbled, his eyes widening before the shelter violently shook as a large object smashed through the walls, the metal shelves crumpled under the weight and collasped. Smoke plumed upward as the object came to a rest inside of the shelter.

Shinji coughed from the smoke, Kaji slowly moved, but barely. He had laid himself over Shinji in a bid to protect him. It took the two of them a few seconds to recover and slowly pick themselves up from the debris that had fallen around them. Shinji wasn't hurt, but Kaji had taken a couple of scratches, his shirt had a couple of rips in it.

As the both of them stood up, they waved their arms and looked through the debris at what had crashed through the wall, the humanoid, just twisted face of Unit-02 lay on its side. Light poured in from behind it. Showing the wound on the right side of its face as the fleshy interior of the Evangelion began to pour blood. Its twisted mouth slowly moved as the pilot inside slowly recovered inside.

"Ow, that hurt. I almost bit the dust back there." Mari painfully uttered to herself before she noticed the both of them. "Oh wow, talk about luck. I was wondering where Unit-01 was. Guess I don't have to wonder why anymore."

Kaji calmly looked at Shinji. "Looks like your ride's here Shinji."

"What? No!" Shinji exclaimed. "I made up my mind! I told myself I won't pilot an Eva ever again. I mean it!"

Kaji looked at Shinji for a few moments before dusting off his ripped shirt, before reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. Lighting one up and taking a puff of it, letting the smoke slowly rise from his mouth.

"Then the Angels have already won. If the defence of NERV goes down, the Angels will reach Adam and initie the Third Impact. All of Humanity will die. Everyone. You. Me. Misato. Ritsuko. Asuka. Rei. Even the girl that's piloting Unit-02. All of this fighting would've been in vain if the Angels win. But if that's your choice, then I'll be leaving."

At those last few words were spoken, Kaji slowly turned his back on Shinji and headed for the doorway, still smoking his cigarette. Unit-02 lifted its head slowly, watching the both of them.

"Its better to be fighting for the world then to sit on your laurels and agonize about how you let the world burn." Mari said before smiling and having a small chuckle. "But then, look at me. At least I'm making a go of it while I still can."

Unit-02 slowly moved it's right hand through the rubble, Mari placed it in front of Shinji, hand open, ready to take him from the shelter.

Shinji turned to Kaji. "But what are you gonna do?"

"Me? Probably go back to my watermelons and farm patch. As much as I would like to be with Misato's melons. All this destruction will have made a mess of the things we did together."

"Why?" Shinji questioned. "You'll die if you go out there."

Kaji stopped at the doorway and looked back at Shinji.

"We've been dying since the day we're born Shinji. Our choices and fear determine when we die. I'll take my chances. As for you Shinji, go out there and be a hero. It's what you do."

* * *

Evangelion Unit-06 slowly creaked as it picked itself up from the indentation it had made in the side of NERV Headquarters. The construction equipment that had been rebuilding the top point of the pyramid slowly fell to the side as the large Eva moved forward.

Before Unit-06 was the charred remains of the Geofront, everything in the immediate blast radius had been reduced to nothing but scortched earth, even the pyramid of NERV had taken damage from the explosion, its flat surface having deflected most of the blast.

Inside, Ro panted in effort. Sweat ran down his face, pain shot through his right arm, he slowly turned to look at the Evangelion's right arm, noticing that most of it had been blasted off above the elbow.

Ahead of him was the large plume of smoke from the N2 rocket's explosion, he could see the silhouette of Unit-00 ahead of him, its armour blackened and smoking from the blast.

For a few moments, he wondered if the Angel had actually been taken out. His wonder was soon dashed as the shape of the Angel soon appeared in the smoke, slowly floating through the smoke and appeared before Unit-00.

"Ah, well that's disappointing." He said as he huffed and puffed. Slowly taking a step forward.

Ro suddenly stopped as he took the step, noticing something in the corner of his eyes. He looked down at the smoking ground and noticed someone running towards him. He slowly knelt down and called up the magnifier on his front viewer. His eyes opened a little as he saw who the person was.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Running up to Ro's Evangelion through the destroyed Geofront was Shinji Ikari. Panting from the running he had been doing through the destroyed field. He paused for a moment as he looked up at Ro's Evangelion.

"What the hell are you doing here Ikari?" Ro questioned. "I thought this wasn't your fight anymore."

"If I don't pilot my Eva, we're all going to die! I'm tired of running! You need to let me in!" Shinji shouted up at Ro.

Ro sighed, shaking his head slightly. He looked over to the floating screen to his right, taking note of the chatter from inside the Command Center, noting that they still had issues with getting Unit-01 to work. As he listened, he noticed the shape of Unit-00 in the distance. He lifted his head. Unit-06 following suit. Shinji turning around to look as well. The Angel was closing in on the unmoving Unit-00. Its armour had melted over the joints, keeping it in place, unable to run away.

"Alright, I'll let you in. But I swear to God Shinji. If you let me die out here, I'm coming back to punch you."

The large door that stood before Shinji slid open and he dashed inside. Ro watched him go inside for a few moments before turning his gaze back to the Angel that looked like it was about to consume Unit-00 as a large appendage began to emerge from its mouth, stretching outward towards Unit-00.

Despite the loss of his Evangelion's right arm, Ro gritted his teeth and pushed through the simulated pain from his Evangelion. He moved his Eva's left hand onto the handle of what was left of his katana. Sliding the broken blade out.

As the appendage extended outward towards the head of Unit-00, Ro raised the katana. Aiming carefully and threw it with whatever energy he had left.

The broken blade spun and soared through the air. Whistling as the blade spun. It hit the AT-Field and bounced off and carried on through the appendage, slicing through most of it, it fell and flopped onto the ground, spurting blood from the wound with a loud and low moan. The Angel retracted the appendage and sharply turned to him, eyes flashing as it fired at him. He instinctively threw up his AT-Field to protect himself. The blast struck the ground in front of him and exploded.

The blast knocked him backward, creating a plume of smoke. His Eva stumbling backward into NERV HQ, the chest armour damaged and smoking. The AT-Field hadn't blocked all of the blast. Ro leaned the Eva forward and waved the Eva's good arm to help clear the air as he headed forward into the smoke.

Cutting through the thick smoke came the Angel's arm. Slicing cleanly through the Eva horizontally in the chest.

* * *

"Status!"

"The Angel sliced through all of the armour layers protecting the major and minor Pectoral muscles and has gone through the sternum and hit the Entry Plug! Unit-06... has instantly shut down."

The staff looked on at the main screen as Ro's Eva slumped forward, the Angel's arm slowly rising from the smoke, lifting the damaged Evangelion high into the air before swaying to the right and then flicked the arm to the left, throwing Unit-06 to the ground like a lifeless doll. Blooding gushing from the chest wound.

"Three Evangelions and everything we've thrown at it and it's still on the move."

With the last piece of defence thrown to the side, the Angel turned its gaze to the pyramid that stood before it. It's eyes flashed as a large hole appeared in the metal and glass of the. Using before it erupted in a massive explosion. Sending up a large plume of smoke. The inside of the Command Center shook from the explosion. The various holographic screens distorted and flashed with static.

"The entrance to Central dogma is exposed! There's nothing stopping it!" Maya exclaimed.

Ritsuko turned to Misato. Taking a moment to calm herself as Misato clenched her good hand into a shaking, trembling fist.

"Misato. Make the call."

* * *

"Keep trying. Reset and start the process again from 308!" Gendo ordered.

Unit-01's head jerked left and right, the red lights flickering in the eyes as it resisted. It's refusal punctuated by the tone from the computer at Gendo's side.

"Why?" Gendo asked. "Why do you reject me, Yui?"

"Let me pilot it!" A young voice screamed.

Gendo's eyes moved as the sound reached his ears. He slowly stood up from the console and looked down into the cage below him.

Standing before the lowered head of Unit-01 was his son, panting and sweating. Hands on his knees as he gasped for air. Dirt marks could be seen on his clothes. His eyes looking up at his father through tired eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Gendo asked coldly.

Shinji looked up at his father, sweat dripped down from his face and onto his shirt. "Because..."

Shinji started, taking a couple of breaths. His dirt covered right hand twitching. He suddenly sucked in a deep breath and clenched his fist. Taking a step forward. That burst of emotion came forth once more from the inside. Pushing him on.

"I am the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-01! SHINJI IKARI!"

* * *

"This is Colonel Misato Katsuragi! The Angel is heading straight for the Command Center! Evacuate all Non-combatants!"

A loud siren rang throughout the Command Center and the rest of NERV as her orders were repeated on the speakers several times before the main viewing screen cracked on the left side, prompting the screen to flash snowy images before blacking out before a large shape burst through the screen, stepping through the holographic images of the wrecked Geofront.

Misato and the NERV technicians stood in fear as the Angel slowly approached them. Misato gripped onto her pendent with her good hand, squeezing it tightly like her clamped jaws as her eyes stared up at the dark eye sockets of the Angel's face.

Sockets that slowly began to glow brighter as it began to charge it's attack.

The right wall caved in and a large shape burst through with furious abandon, the Angel turned its face towards the shape a moment before a purple face collided with its face and knocked the Angel to the ground for a moment, the large humanoid shape picked the Angel up hastily and Misato saw that it was that had caught the Angel by surprised.

"Unit-01?!" Misato shouted in surprised, she looked at the Evangelion's eyes as it struggled with the Angel. "It must be! It's Shinji!"

Unit-01 slammed it's right shoulder into the midsection of the Angel and rammed the both of them through the side-wall of the Command Center, ploughing the Angel through wall after thick wall until they both finally collapsed into one of the launch cages for the Evangelion.

As the Angel lay on the ground, Shinji pulled back the Eva's left arm for a punch, but before he could slam the fist forward, the Angel quickly launched itself forward, its eyes quickly firing its attack, knocking the Eva back a step and completely severing the left arm at the elbow, causing it to slam into a wall with blood splattered in a large red streak behind it.

The hand slammed into the catwalk below it, but the lone occupant, Gendo Ikari, was not fazed as over half of his body had been covered in the Eva's blood.

Shinji gripped his left arm as bubbles and pain shot from his arm, he gritted his teeth and let out a furious scream as he grabbed the Angel and threw it around in the cage, slamming his foot into its midsection to kick it back before ramming full force into it, slamming it into the launching station and onto one of the lifts.

"Misato!" Shinji screamed into the com.

"Release the launch platform!" Misato ordered.

The locks turned and released, Shinji drove the foot of Unit-01 into a manual release lock. It lit green and the platform was shot up through the launch tube. Shinji grabbed hold of the Angel's face with the his right hand and slammed the left side of the Angel's face into the wall. Averting it's gaze from him so it couldn't fire at him. Sparks flew as the bone was worn down by the metal wall like sandpaper.

As the lift ascended quickly to the top of the shaft that lead into the Geofront, the brakes activated, attempting to slow the platform. But they snapped as the lift slammed into them, causing the main platform to be lauched into the air.

Shinji let out a blood curdling scream as he held onto the Angel tightly, positioning his Eva on top of the Angel as they both slammed down hard into the ground.

Shinji pulled his right hand back and slammed it into the core of the Angel, hitting it several times, producing only a small crack in the core. In frustration and rage, Shinji made a grab from the Angel's face. Pulling and yanking it, stretching its neck out as Shinji clenched his teeth and struggled to rip its head off.

Suddenly Unit-01 went limp and shut down.

Shinji gasped as he turned to the timer, he had run out of time and energy.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

* * *

Maya looked at Misato with an alarmed expression as her laptop screen flashed red all over.

"Unit-01's reached its operational limit! The backup systems aren't responding!"

Misato looked up as the numbers on the elevator slowly moved, praying for the elevator that carried her, Ritsuko and the technicians up faster. She held the pendant tightly, making a silent prayer.

"Please Shinji. Don't die on us yet."

The elevator dinged at it reached the highest floor possible. The Geofront. Misato was the first to push through the opening doors as she ran at full speed towards Unit-01. Injuries and all. The rest of the staff followed suit, Maya bringing up the rear as she cradled the laptop in her arms.

They managed to reach the surface just in time to see the Angel push Unit-01 into the air with its arms, blood spurting out of the chest as it flicked the arms effortlessly and slammed Unit-01 into the burning wreckage of NERV headquarters.

* * *

Inside of the dark Entry Plug, Shinji was frantically moving the controls back and forth, screaming at the top of his lungs as he tried to get some kind of response from the Eva as the Entry Plug shook from the impact from the Angel.

"Move you goddamn piece of junk! If you don't move everyone is going to die! I won't let anyone die today! Not anymore!"

Still the Evangelion was silent, failing to move as he wanted. The Entry Plug was dark, the hum of the engine had died down. Nothing was working. Shinji's efforts appeared to be in vain.

But that fire inside of him still burned, that adrenaline was still going through his veins, that surge of will to do something, anything! Shinji slammed his fist into the controls one last time.

"No one else is dying today. I won't let it, so just... **MOVE!**"

* * *

A single heartbeat, a single spark of ignition. Motivation. Purpose. It all started. Building up, mustering up the energy to move. The eyes alive as the muscles moved. The Angel was nearly upon it.

And it had a chance.

The Angel thrusted one of its flat arms forward in a bid to slice into Evangelion Unit-01. But the Unit darted its right hand forward, catching the arm and put up its AT-Field. The two fields colliding made the arm snap like rubber, tearing apart and splattering blood over both fields.

Unit-01 moved the remains of its left arm forward, a glowing shape grew from the stump, morphing into a hand. It hastily wrapped the Angel's arm around the glowing shape like a massive bandage. A bandage that slowly morphed into an outer protective shell for the glowing arm. Acting like armour almost.

The Angel slowly recovered, its ripped arm bleeding heavily. It thrusted its other arm forward, slicing through the air, aiming for Unit-01's neck.

It was stopped suddenly as Unit-01 grabbed the Angel's arm with its glowing hand, the flat arm crumpling in its grip as it yanked the arm down, pulling the Angel forward, making it stumble before launching itself at the Angel, slamming its feet down into the Angel's face and knocking the Angel backwards onto the ground.

As the Angel landed, Unit-01 sank its teeth into the stretched neck of the Angel and then pulled, ripping out flesh before both hands gripped the Angel's face, pulling the head off and throwing it to one side before moving down the Angel's body to the bone covered core. Gripping each piece one at a time and ripping it away with beastly strength until the core was fully exposed.

Unit-01 struggled to pull the red core out of the Angel, pulling and yanking in different directions like a loose tooth being pulled from the gum until finally the core snapped and was pulled from the Angel, blood spurting out from where it had rested, the Angel's body slumped and went completely flat, deflating like a balloon as it's main source of power had been removed.

Unit-01 held the red core in its hands, baring it's teeth as they began to glow, the core was starting to affect the Unit. It opened its mouth and let out a roar one more biting before biting into the core like an egg, red liquid spurting out as the teeth clamped down.

* * *

The loud sickening sound of Unit-01 eating the contents of the core like a beast hungrily sucking up the contents of an egg could be heard throughout the Geofront. Misato and the rest of NERV looked on in horror as the contents of the core were splattered across the mouth of Unit-01 as it continue to hungrily ingest the core.

"Is it... eating the Angel's core?" Misato asked as she looked on in disgust.

"Yes." Rtisuko answered. "And now this Eva is obtaining a power it once lacked. The power of God itself. To remove all restrictions placed on it by our technology and become a full God. Unit-01 is awake and free."

As the empty shell of the core was tossed aside by Unit-01, the golden arm faded and vanished, the outer protective shell limped for a few moments before Unit-01 hunched over in pain and the arm started to morph again. This time, bone, sinew and flesh slowly formed from the stump and assimilated the Angel's arm, forming a brand new arm and hand that slowly cracked loudly as new muscles moved for the first time.

Large steam clouds escaped from the open, bloody maw of Unit-01, its teeth still dripping with blood as the armour that covered the rest of the Eva slowly began to shine. The edge of the armour where the Angel had blasted off the arm began to glow and slowly moved down the arm, covering it as it essentially regrew the armour to complete itself.

As the armour regenerated, so did the colouration change, the neon green sections of Unit-01's armour slowly turned to red, glowing brightly as Unit-01 reared back its head and let out an ear-splitting roar that went right into the depths of the soul.

The roar gave way to the sound of muscles stretching, snapping, bone's cracking and metal being pushed and twisted as the shoulder blades on the back of the Evangelion gave way, bright orange pillars of light shone from underneath the metal and flesh, folding upward like a newly formed wing as membrane of the wing spread outward, followed by a smaller set. Wings made of pure energy that slowly made the Evangelion rise into the air. The air thick with pressure that slowly began to move and twist. Turning in a circle around Unit-01, forming a tornado that picked up pieces of debris and broken wreckage.

Small particles, red in hue, shone and rose around the Geofront, moving through the tornado as they encircled around Unit-01.

* * *

"Come on Kiddo. I got you."

The gentle hand was accepted by a shaky, blood covered glove. Slowly Mari was lifted out of the Entry Plug from Unit-02. Supported in the arms of Kaji. She leaned her weight onto him. Looking upward at the shining figure. Blood streaked down the right side of her face, her glasses cracked.

"Is that... Unit-01?"

"Yeah. Its finally ascended. SEELE won't be able to stay quiet about this for very long." Kaji responded.

"I guess its no wonder he smells different from all of the other pilots. It seems like he's the only one that can do this. Everything just falls into place for him" Mari said with a smile.

"I have to wonder though. Was this what Gendo has been planning all this time?" Kaji questioned.

* * *

Slowly a gentle, feminine hand, palm up, slowly raised upward into the sky as a shining red particle floated near by. It landed softly in the palm. Felia Annata Sohryu slowly brought it close to her face to inspect it. The particle glowed in her hand, casting a red light on her face. It felt far more familiar and warmer then it should. She closed her hand, wrapping her fingers tightly around the object, snuffing out the light and looked up at Unit-01 as it ascended slowly into the sky. Her brow lowered and became a frown.

"Finish the job." She whispered quietly.

Through the tornado came a large shape, charging through with a roar, eyes glowing bright green as Evangelion Unit-06 burst forward, reeling back it's left hand, sections of its armour glowed and produced neon green vapours as it flew through the air. A loud scream from the pilot accompanied the roar of Evangelion Unit-06, it's fist flew forward through the air, sending it squarely into the jaw of Unit-01.

As the fist impacted on the jaw of Unit-01, the glowing wings vanished from Unit-01's back and the floating debris regained gravity and flew back to earth, the force of the punch sending Unit-01 spiralling and spinning into the remains of NERV headquarters, crashing face first through melted and twisted metal.

Unit-01 started to recover, pushing itself up as Unit-06 landed close by and raised its left fist back again before slamming it into Unit-01's back, the purple Evangelion Unit screamed in pain as Unit-06 dug its hand into the back muscles, reaching around through metal and flesh, grabbing onto and taking hold of the base of the spinal column where it met with the hip bone.

The loud snapping and cracking of bone could be heard as Unit-06 started to rip the spine out, slamming its right foot into the shoulder blade of Unit-01 for stability. Yanking the spine from the back, nerve connections snapping open and teared apart all the way up to the entry plug socket, disconnecting most of the connections from the entry plug. Unit-01 roared in pain as it struggled to fight back, rearing back its head as it fought to regain control.

Unit-06 lifted its right foot again, sending it into the back of Unit-01's head, crushing it against the remaining structure of the destroyed pyramid. It struck the head twice more until Unit-01's eyes went completely dark and slumped down onto NERV.

After a few moments, Unit-06 slowly let go of the spine and took a couple of steps back.

A spurt of blood came out of Unit-06's mask, the eyes slowly going black, the S2 engine and everything else died into silence, the vapours stopped and the creaking and groaning of metal ran out through the air as it leaned back slowly, and finally fell on the ruined battlefield, collapsing with a final loud slam.

* * *

**End**

A notice to all readers.

I know this chapter has literally been months in the making and there have been alot of things that have gotten in the way of me completing this chapter and I have to apologise for not bringing it out sooner. I just hope you all enjoy it. Its been quite the battle.


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